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^// 



Practical Garden Points 



■BY- 



PRACTICAL PEOPLE, 



A COLLECTION OF PAPERS BY PRACTICAL GARDENERS 
AND FRUIT GROWERS. 



ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS. 



PUBLISHED BY 

JAMES VICK SEEDSMAN, 

ROCHESTER, N, Y. 



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Pat. Omoe UH. 






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CONTENTS. 



Village Improvements, D, H. Roberts, M. D., - - i 

Village Improvements, F. H. Hastings, ... 5 

The Gloxinia, Elizabeth Luney, 8 

The Cineraria, Charles E. Parnell, - - - - 13 

Annuals in the Winter Window-Garden, Julia A. Beers, 16 

Winter Supply of Violets and Pansies, Charles Everding, 24 

Chrysanthemums, L. Oakey, 29 

The Calceolaria, Charles E. Parnell, - - - - 33 

The Cyclamen, Charles E. Parnell, ^6 

The Rose as a House Plant, Flora F. Dorwin, - - 39 

The Rose as a House Plant, Charles E. Parnell, - - 44 

The Strawberry, John F. Dayton, - ... 47 

The .Raspberry for Market, S. S. Crissey, - - - 53 

The Blackberry, N. B. Hollister, - - - - - 57 

Apples, J. W. Lang, 63 

Grape Vines, S. S. Crissey, 67 

Mushroom Gbowing, B. Fletcher, 70 

Growing Mushrooms, William Falconer, - - - 73 

Asparagus, W. C. Steele, 77 

Peas, B. Fletcher, - - - 82 

Onion Culture, W. Abell, 84 

Field Culture of Onions, P. Carry, . . . . 86 

Cultivation of Onions, Charles E. Parnell, - - - 88 

Raising Onions, A. Waldron, 92 

Cabbage, W. H. Waddington, 94 

Celery, Mrs. C. H. Root, 98 

Keeping Celery in Winter, Richard Gamble, - - . loi 

Root Crops, Robert J. Fleming, . , - - - 103 



INTRODUCTION. 



The articles here collected and republished are, for the most 
part, Prize Essays, which first appeared in the numbers of Vick's 
Magazine. They have all been written by practical and 
experienced garden workers, and all the statements have been 
verified and will stand whatever tests may be given them. 
Knowing them to be intrinsically valuable, and that they offer 
much information in garden work that is not easily accessible, it is 
believed that good service has been done in thus presenting them 
again to the public in this form. 

A few of the papers are not Prize Essays, but, as they show 
different phases of experience, they are valuable on that account. 

The flowering plants to which special articles are devoted are, 
for the most part, those which, to the beginner, usually present some 
difficulties, and here the manner of overcoming them is distinctly 
pointed out. 

In the same manner the instructions relating to vegetables ai-e 
those most needful to the inexperienced. It is thought that this 
little manual will prove an acceptable and trustful companion to 
the young gardener and fruit grower, and as such it is sent on 
its way. 



GARDEN ESSAYS. 



VILLAGE IMPROVEMENTS. 

What agencies and methods can the residents of villages em- 
ploy to secure the practical effects of the most advanced ideas of 
sanitation and the proper horticultural embellishment of streets and 
grounds ? 

When families live remote from each other, as farmers do, they 
may be more independent, biit when they congregate in villages 
there should always be municipal government with powers, among 
other things, to promote the beautiful, and to remove everything 
calculated to injure the health of the people. For municipal offi- 
cers, good and wise men should be selected independently of party 
lines. 

On private lots the largest liberty, consistent with the health 
and happiness of others, should be allowed. But the streets, 
alleys; public buildings and general healthfulness of the place 
should be delegated to the village authorities. 

The most advanced ideas of sanitation require good drainage 
throughout every part of the village, not only of surface water, but 
also of all stagnant water beneath and near the surface. They also 
require pure water for drinking and culinary purposes. They 
require freedom from the offensive odors and noxious gases that 
arise from putrid decaying animal and vegetable substances. They 
require dry and well ventilated cellars. They require that the 
streets and grounds should have proper proportions of sunshine 
and shade. 

Proper drainage is most thoroughly secured by cutting down the 
streets from eighteen inches to three feet or more. As the soil is 
plowed or loosened, those owning low lots will be glad to carry it 
away for filling and bringing such lots to a level with others. 

Thus, the public expense becomes small, and the owners of lots 
are accommodated. The streets should be left higher in the center, 
and the water carried off along the borders next the sidewalk. 
The sidewalk should also be cut down, but not lower than the 
central part of the street. The grade should be sufficient to secure 
rapid and perfect drainage. 

Dwelling houses should be built upon stone foundations and 



2 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

stand high enough that the cellar may be drained, if necessary, 
into the street. The alleys running back of the lots should also 
be cut down, but not more than half as low as the street, and 
so graded as to drain freely to the street. All this drainage 
should have ample and free outlet beyond the village limits. 
Most villages are naturally so situated as to admit of this thor- 
ough surface or open drainage, and those not so should have a 
proper outlet secured, even at much expense. Farmers and gar- 
deners near the village should be encouraged to drain all their low 
or level grounds with tile, as unhealthy effluvia or miasma may be 
borne in the air to considerable distances before losing its virus. 

Last fall, 1 visited a small village in Indiana, where I had 
resided some fifteen years before. Meeting, upon the street, two 
physicians, old residents, I inquired how they were getting on. 
" Ah," said one of them, " the tile business has ruined this place 
for doctors. The farmers have found that good underground drain- 
age ensures so much better and more certain crops that they have 
fairly riddled the country with tile, and the result is, we have not 
one case of ague or miasmatic fever now where we had twenty 
when you lived here." The other physician said he could testify 
that the statement was entirely correct and not overdrawn. This 
corresponds with the testimony of many others, and speaks vol- 
umes for the sanitary advantages of underdraining. 

To secure good, pure water for drinking and culinary purposes, 
cities may have expensive waterworks, but villages of from five 
hundred to ten thousand inhabitants can seldom afford so great 
expense ; they must rely upon wells, usually from twelve to fifty 
feet deep. That the water in these wells may be kept pure and 
sweet it is evident that no filth or organic matter should be allowed 
to enter and contaminate it. Liquids that filter through the soil 
soon become purified, but where an opening is made so that a 
stream passes, but little purification can take place. The roots of 
trees seeking moisture often find the well several rods distant, and 
in another direction the privy vault. When these roots decay a 
direct communication is made between them. Worms and insects, 
also, frequently fill the soil with pores. A stratum of sand or gravel 
may, and often does, connect wells and cess-pools all over the vil- 
lage. Pure water in the village wells requires that no privy vault 
be allowed below the surface of the ground. The importance of 
this point is so great that laws should be made and enforced pro- 
hibiting the sinking of any such vault. Privies should be placed 



VILLAGE IMPROVEMENTS. 3 

upon the alleys, and so arranged that ashes or dry earth may be 
frequently thrown in to deodorize and disinfect them, and that the 
contents may be frequently and regularly carried beyond the village 
limits. 

That these ends may be attained with as little expense as 
possible, all privies should be furnished with boxes or chests of the 
same size and pattern, easly removed to a wagon or dray in the 
alley. They should also be so planned as to give room for, and be 
furnished with a chest of dry earth, which should be kept filled. 
The seat should have hinges at the back that it may be opened up 
for the frequent introduction of dry earth. 

The village authorities should see that the full chests are regu- 
larly carried away and empty ones put in their places, and also that 
the dry earth chests are replenished. Waste and slops from the 
kitchen and manure from the stable, should be placed handy to 
the alley, frequently mixed with lime, ashes or earth, and regularly 
carried away by the village authorities. 

Now, all this may appear, at first thought, to be attended 
with considerable expense; but a manure manufactory beyond the 
village limits, where all this waste is stored and protected from the 
weather, would doubtless soon yield profits far exceeding all ex- 
pense. After being once introduced and its workings understood, 
business men would probably be found anxious to obtain the 
privilege of removing all filth from the village for the profitable 
manufacture of fertilizers. 

When the streets are graded, a space should be left along the 
sidewalk and next the street for the planting of trees. This shoul^' 
have plenty of good surface earth sufficiently enriched for the rapid 
growth of trees. The trees should be planted by the village 
authorities in straight rows, leaving ample room for sidewalks of 
good width, and they should be attended by the authorities after- 
wards. All. planting, replanting and pruning should be done with 
an eye to symmetry and proper admixture of sunshine and shade. 
Citizens should be careful in planting trees and ornamenting their 
grounds not to introduce too much shade ; plenty of sunshine being 
absolutely necessary to good health. For the streets, hardwood 
trees will be found the best. Sugar Maple and Norway Maple are 
excellent for all northern climates. 

Parks in small villages should be situated for convenience, or, 
if possible, to. command beautiful or grand scenery, and be made 
pleasant and attractive as places of resort. No cemetery should 



4 , GARDEN ESSAYS. 

be allowed within three miles of the village. Streams of water 
passmg through or near the village should be kept pure and sweet. 
No slaughter house should be permitted to be so situated as possi- 
bly to contaminate the water. Dead animals should be far re- 
moved from streams of water for burial. Beer and liquor saloons 
should be prohibited. 

All public or private school houses, halls, churches or other 
places for congregation should be inspected by the authorities, who 
should require provision for ample ventilation. 

By common consent business places and public or private enter- 
tainments should be closed at or before ten o'clock in the evening; 
this is important. The health of our young people especially re- 
quires that they should have plenty of good sound sleep, and in our 
villages the majority of the community consists of laborers, mechan- 
ics, or persons in business, that require early rising. A few suc- 
cessive nights of excitement and loss of sleep often lay the founda- 
tion for nervous diseases and general ill health. 

Now, all these things are believed to be absolutely necessary to 
secure the practical effects of the most advanced ideas of sanitation ; 
and, moreover, they are eminently practical. In the course of a 
few years the little extra expense would surely be repaid both in 
health and wealth. The clean, healthful, beautiful village would 
attract the best classes of citizens and promote its prosperity more 
than much larger sums frequently spent in other directions. 



VILLAGE IMPROVEMENTS. 

This question is one of great importance, and of increasing 
interest, as there is, at the present time, so much attention given to 
the improvement of villages and homesteads with their surround- 
ings. The number of persons, happily increasing from year to year, 
who have a desire and a determination to make their homes pleas- 
ant and attractive, thus setting a good example to others, so far as 
their influence goes, are entitled to commendation and assistance, 
-and help from suggestions of others. But in order to accomplish 
much in this way in a rural community, it would seem necessary to 
have a club or the concerted action of a few individuals, at least, 
who have a real desire to improve their town or village, making it 
-attractive as a place of residence. 

As an illustration of what may be accomplished by such an 
organization composed of a few intelligent and public spirited 
persons, whose efforts, and their results, have come under my own 
observation, an account is here submitted, hoping their success 
may stimulate others to do likewise. 

At the time when the "Rural Art Club " was formed, some 
jears ago, there wiSs nothing about the village in the way of orna- 
mentation very noticeable ; one or two individuals, as in most 
villages at the time, had their front yards and perhaps small 
gardens, with the meager supply of shrubs and flowers to be obtained 
at that period. The green, or common, around which a greater 
part of the village was built, was correctly called the "commons," 
as it was free to travel in all directions, and cattle and pigs were 
by no means excluded from its use. 

This common had been made into a beautiful park with a fine 
variety of trees and shrubs, with its walks aud fountain, adding 
wonderfully to the appearance of the village and to the pleasure of 
the inhabitants, who feel a laudable pride in their park. The 
various streets leading to the village, and the new streets opened as 
the growth of the place required, have not been neglected, but 
embellished with suitable shade trees, and many of the beautiful 
homes on these streets bear witness to the taste and enterpri:-. of 
the residents. 

At the stated meetings of the " Rural Art Club," one, or more, 
essays by some of its members were read and discussed and any 



6 ' GARDEN ESSAYS. 

topic of general interest was published occasionally in the village 
paper, that those not members of the club might derive benefit 
from the suggestions presented. 

As the old cemetery became crowded, and was itself a barren^ 
unattractive spot, a rough, hilly tract of land of several acres, near 
the village, was secured, and an association formed, who laid it out 
and improved it for a new cemetery, making it a very pleasant 
and desirable place for its purpose, and one in which all feel a 
pride and interest. 

As one improvement naturally leads to another, so, recently a 
system of water works has been furnished the inhabitants, adding 
to the health and convenience of all concerned. 

Allowing that much may be done by individual effort towards 
beautifying and improving towns and neighborhoods, yet the com- 
bined labors of a few active and intelligent persons, who have the 
good of the public at heart, seem desirable and necessary in order 
to make rapid and permanent improvements in any village, both 
in the way of sanitation and making homes beautiful. Even a few 
persons who are willing to give a portion of their time and are 
generous enough to distribute to others such trees, shrubs and plants 
as they could easily spare, would contribute in no slight degree to 
the happiness of others, and be amply rewarded in the improved 
appearance of their neighborhood. 

Of course, various methods will suggest themselves to such an 
association in order to awaken an interest in the public generally" 
in all subjects pertaining to sanitation or rural art, such as occa- 
sional lectures by physicians of the place upon the general principles 
of drainage, location of wells and subjects relating to the health 
of families, with essays upon improving and decorating homes, 
illustrating and impressing upon all what may be accomplished by 
the judicious use of trees, shrubs and plants in rendering their 
homes pleasing and attractive. A few years of such persevering 
and systematic effort will result in wonderful improvement of 
neighborhoods, and prove a great means of education to the young. 

Our laws at present in regard to cattle running at large, are 
such that the old, unsightly fence around every door-yard, is 
rendered unnecessary, and it is gratifying to see that they are 
gradually being removed, adding greatly to the beauty of a street. 
Every school district should take interest enough in the welfare of 
the children to plant trees about the schoolhouse, making it more 
comfortable and pleasant in every way. 



VILLAGE IMPROVEMENTS. 7 

Thus, briefly are presented the methods which, by experience, 
have been proved to be effective and expeditious in accomplishing 
many and important village improvements. 



THE GLOXINIA. 




Notwithstanding the fact that the 
Gloxinia is assigned a place among the 
stove plants in sundry catalogues, and 
is, undoubtedly a native of a very hot 
climate, it is one of the most satisfactoiy 
flowers known for window as well as 
greenhouse culture, requiring compara- 
tively little care and attention in return 
for its brilliant blossoms and scarcely 
less beautiful foliage. The great variety* 
of form and color exhibited in its flowers 
•entirely precludes the idea of sameness, and gives to the cultivator 
the pleasure of ever looking forward to the development of new 
beauties in the growing plants. Of course, new varieties usually 
originate in seedlings, as the Gloxinia is not like the Petunia and 
many other flowers, inclined to sport. Any desirable kind can be 
propagated from leaf-cuttings, which strike readily, and will produce 
flowering bulbs for the following season. 

The materials requisite for the growing of the Gloxinia from seed 
are really very few. First on the list is good seed, and I much 
prefer that ripened in summer or autumn for sowing the ensuing 
spring to that which is of greater age, as I do not think, judging 
from experience, that Gloxinia seeds retain their vitality so long as 
many other kinds. Secondly, a quantity of pure leaf-mold, as I 



THE GLOXINIA. 9. 

confess to the heresy of .not even requiring the prescribed leaven of 
sand for the growing of this plant to the size required for pricking 
out into pots. If, however, the leaf-mold cannot be obtained, then 
add a "dash of sand " to the mellow earth which must be used as a 
substitute. I like the leaf-mold better than any compost, no matter 
how nicely prepared, for, in the first place, when once saturated 
with water it retains the moisture for a long time, thus rendering 
unnecessary the frequent waterings so dangerous to tiny germinating 
seed, and, in addition to this, the leaf-mold, while so fine and soft 
that the smallest rootlet can easily push its way through it, is not 
porous, so that there is little danger of its swallowing the minute seed 
into fatal depths. Next in order comes the receptacle for the mold 
or earth in which the seeds are to be sown. For this purpose use a 
shallow box, not over three inches in depth, a cigar box, the bottom 
of which has been perforated with an awl or small gimlet, in order 
to admit water freely, will answer admirably and can be easily pro- 
cured. These few articles, together with a pane of glass, constitute 
the most important accessories to Gloxinia culture in its first stage, 
if we do not take into account the rather indispensible elements of 
air, heat and water, without which the most sanguine horticulturist 
would hardly hope for success. 

Sowing in Februaiy or March is recommended for the green- 
house, but I Mould advise those who wish to try Avindow culture 
not to sow until the cold weather is well over, unless they are 
sure that they have facilities for preserv-ing an even warm tempera- 
ture for their experiments, and this is rarely possible in the 
dwelling house, as I find to my cost. Therefore, I think, under 
these circumstances, it is best not to sow until the last of April or 
first of May. There is little to be gained by sowing earlier, as 
plants from seed sown at this season have ample time to mature 
strong flowering bulbs for the next year. 

To return to our subject. Having sifted the mold or earth to 
remove any coarse particles, fill the box within half an inch of the 
top with it, and press it down as firmly as possible, leaving an even 
surface. Set the box in a pan containing tepid water, and let it 
remain until the soil is thoroughly saturated, then remove and allow 
any superfluous water to drain off. Afterwards scatter the seeds 
thinly over the surface and sift a little fine earth over them through 
a sieve or coarse piece of muslin ; cover the box with the pane of 
glass and set it in a waiTn place to await the process of germination. 
If in the greenhouse this is easily managed, but if in the dwelling 



lO ' GARDEN ESSAYS. 

house a shelf near the stove or a warm window will do nicely. I 
have even found the reservoir of my kitchen stove an acquisition 
for furnishing bottom heat to struggling plants. In case of using a 
reservoir for this purpose it is well to put a bit of board under your 
box, as a non-conductor, in event of too much heat. Give air fre- 
quently to prevent mould, and, should water be necessary before the 
plants are up, set the box again in a little M^arm water until the 
moisture appears on the surface of the soil. As soon as the seed- 
lings are nicely up remove the glass and place the box in some 
warm location, where the plants may have the benefit of both light 
and air to prevent them from becoming drawn, and continue water- 
ing as before until they attain the dignity of from three to five leaves, 
when it is time to transplant each one to a small pot of rich, mellow 
earth, or several may be set in a larger pot and allowed to remain 
until they attain the height of an inch or so, when they may be 
transplanted to four-inch pots, and a few weeks later to six-inch 
pots, where they are to be left to complete their growth of the first 
year. Water as often as the earth becomes dry, but be sure that 
your pots are well drained, as, though the Gloxinia will endure a 

great deal of neglect in 
the matter of applying 
water, a deluge was not 
more fatal to the antedi- 
luvians than it will prove 
to this pretty flower. 
Stagnant water soon de- 
stroys the bulb beyond 
remedy. Do not place 
your plants, especially 
during the blooming 
period, in the direct rays 
of the surnmer sun, or 
they will be apt to droop 
and become limp, pitiable 
objects; but give them a 
little protection and they 
will i-eward you M'ell for 
the trouble. They will 
GLOXINIA— UPRIGHT FLOWER. do nlccly wlth plcuty of 

light, and little, if any, sunshine, and are therefore, to be i-ecommended 
for those who have windows on the north or east side of the house. 




THE GLOXINIA. 



While those who sow seed in the greenhouse may possibly be 
rewarded with a few flowers the first season, it is well for those who 
grow them under the disadvantage of the dry air and unequal tem- 
perature of tlie living-room not to expect any until the second year, 
or disappointment will likely result. Allow your young plants to 
grow until the tops show signs of ripening off, or till late in the 
autumn, if they seem inclined to do so, then gradnally withhold 
water and put them, after the foliage is well dried off", beneath the 
staging, if in the greenhouse, or, if under house culture, in some 
warm and comparatively dry place where there is no danger of frost 

through the winter. I 
have a box which, cov- 
ered with cretonne, pre- 
sents quite a respectable 
appearance in the sitting- 
room and at the same 
time serves as a recep- 
tacle for my dormant 
plants until such a time 
as their starting shoots 
or my own convenience 
decides me to place them 
in the window again. 
One method of preserv- 
ing the roots during the 
period of rest is packing 
them in sand, but I feel 
more certain of success if 
I allow them to remain 
-NODDING FLOWER. undisturbcd in the pots 

in which they were grown, for experience warns me to be careful 
how I meddle with dormant bulbs, although the growing plants can 
be repotted at any time, and even subjected to very rough treatment 
without much injuiy. 

WTien the Gloxinias show signs in the spring of waking from 
theii long sleep into active life by the putting out of sundiy pink or 
green shoots, remove them from their resting place to a Mann win- 
dow, and water carefully, but not too freely, until the foliage is well 
out : then take the plants up and shake the earth out of their roots, 
repotting into six or seven-inch pots, and using very rich, mellow 
earth or the compost usually recommended for house plants now 




GLOXINIA- 



12 , GARDEN ESSAYS. 

set the plants in the window where they are to bloom. Always be 
careful not to over water for some time after repotting,- as when the 
roots have been recently disturbed they are not in condition to take 
up water as when well established in the soil. Do not spot the leaves 
or blast the flower buds by getting them wet, but pour the water 
directly on the surface of the earth, using sufficient to penetrate to 
the bottom of the pot and thoroughly wetting the contents. It is^ 
far better to water thoroughly and only when necessary than to 
keep up a constant irrigation and I might add irritation, of the 
surface of the soil with homoeopathic doses of water, leaving the 
roots deep down in the pot to shrivel and die from starvation, or 
rather, of thirst, while you indulge in the " pleasant fiction " of 
watering your plants once or twice every day. The old saying, 
" What is worth doing at all is M^orth doing well," applies very 
nicely to even the simple operation of watering a plant. 

It is an easy matter to keep the Gloxinia in bloom from May 
until October or November, by starting the plants into growth " in 
succession." The buds usually appear, under favorable circum- 
stances, the second season as soon as the plants have put forth a 
few leaves, and the flowers often remain a week or more before 
falling off, thus adding another good point to the many already 
scored in the favor of this beautiful exotic. The Geranium is looked 
upon as the plant which " suflereth all things, endureth all things," 
and generally fulfils any expectations in that respect, but after a long 
experience I can recommend the Gloxinia to plant-lovers as being 
nearly, if not quite, as easy of cultivation as this well known flower, 
while, in addition to this, its waxen bells, with their colors gorgeous 
as the plumage of a tropical bird, or delicate as an artist's dream,, 
proclaim it as one of the aristocracy of the floral kingdom. 



THE CINERARIA. 

A few years ago the Cineraria was one of our most popular 
winter blooming plants, but since Roses, Carnations and other 
winter bloomers have taken its place its cultivation has been sadly- 
neglected. But within the past year or two it has begun to occupy 
its proper place among choice winter blooming plants, and magnifi- 
cent specimens are frequently seen at the horticultural exhibitions. 

The Cineraria is generally considered to be a difficult plant to 
grow, but such is not the case, for, if its requirements are understood, 
no plant can be more easily grown. The mistakes generally consist 
in growing the plants in too warm a temperature instead of a cool 
one, and in overpotting the plants while small. 

The seeds can be sown at almost any season of the year, but for 
the amateur cultivator the best time is from the middle of April until 
the middle of June. Indeed it is best to make two sowings, one 
about the end of April and the other about the tenth of June, but 
if only on,e sowing can be made it should be done about the middle 
of May, for the seed will vegetate much better if sown before hot 
weather sets in. The seed should be sown in well drained pots or 
pans filled with light, rich soil; sow very thinly and cover slightly, 
a mere dusting with a little compost will be sufficient, and press it 
down rather firmly with the bottom of a pot. If the seed is sown 
in April the pans should be placed in a warm, moist situation, close 
to the glass, and as soon as the young plants are large enough to 
handle they should be transplanted into other pans similarly pre- 
pared, and placed an inch and a half apart. These plants should 
be kept close and moist until groAvth commences, and by this time 
the weather will be warm enough to permit them to be removed to 
a cold-frame and treated as advised for the later sowing. 

The later sowing should be made about the middle of May, and the 
seed-pans or pots removed to the cold-frame where they should be 
kept close and moist until the young plants are well up. As soon 
as they are strong enough to handle they should be transferred to 
other seed -pans, and placed about an inch and a half apart each 
way. It is best to keep the young plants close and moist until 
growth commences, when a little air should be given. The plants 
can be grown in the seed-pans until they commence to touch each 
other, and then they must be carefully taken up and potted into 



14 



GARDEN ESSAYS. 



three-inch pots. When first potted water thoroughly and replace 
in the cold-frame as close together as possible, but on no account 
should the plants be allowed to touch each other. 

Keep the young plants growing in a healthy condition, and as 
the pots become moderately filled with roots they should be shifted 
into pots about two sizes larger, and treated precisely as advised foi 
the first potting. 

This treatment siiould be continued throughout the summer and 

until the approach of 
cold weather, when 
they should be 
brought inside. If 
specimens are wanted 
the repotting should 
be continued until the 
plants are in pots 
from eight to ten 
inches in diameter. 

When brought in- 
side, the plants should 
be placed by them- 
selves in the coolest 
part of the green- 
house, but keep them 
far enough apart to 
prevent the leaves in one pot from touching those in the next, and 
as soon as the flower-stalks make their appearance give the plants 
liquid manure water at least twice a week. 

The cold-frame in which the plants are to be grown during the 
summer season should be placed on a bed of coal ashes in a par- 
tially shaded situation. The sash should also be given a light coat 
of whitewash, in order to keep the sun's rays from the plants, for, 
although the Cineraria likes to be grown in a light situation, yet it 
soon suffers if it is permitted to be exposed to the sun during the 
summer months, especially if it should happen to become a little 
dry at the roots. In this frame, and on the bed of ashes, the plants 
should be placed as closely together as possible, without the leaves 
of one plant being permitted to touch those of another from the 
time they are taken from the seed-pans until their period of bloom- 
ing is past. 

In potting, porous or soft -baked pots should always be used, and 




CINERARIA. 



THE CINERARIA. 15 

see to it tliat they are well drained, as this is a very important point. 
In draining place a large piece of broken pot over the hole, then 
several smaller, and gradually fill up with smaller pieces until the 
pot is one-third filled ; over this place a layer of moss, to prevent the 
soil from falling through. 

The soil most suitable for the Cineraria is one composed of two- 
thirds turfy loam, one-third well decayed cow manure, with a fair 
sprinkling of bone-dust ; mix thoroughly, and use the compost rough, 
pressing it dowu firmly around the plants. 

The Cineraria is veiy subject to attacks of the aphis or green 
fly and the red spider. The latter can be prevented by growing the 
plants in a moist, cool atmosphere. The former is more troublesome, 
and requires constant watching, but a few leaves or stems of Tobacco 
scattered among the plants of the cold-frame, and renewed occa- 
sionally will keep them in subjection. In the greenhouse they can 
be destroyed by a slight fumigation of Tobacco. Water should be 
given thoroughly whenever necessary, and when the flower-stalks 
make their appearance give liquid manure water at least twice a 
week. Never permit the plants to suffer for water at any time, and 
keep them in a moist and cool atmosphere at all times, excepting 
in the winter, when the foliage should be kept rather dry in order 
to guard against damp, as this would soon destroy the foliage and 
thus materially injure the appearance of the plants. 

A packet or two of seeds of the mixed varieties will produce a 
quantity of plants, and give a varied and beautiful display, but 
my experience with the double varieties has been anything but 
satisfactory. 

It appears to be scarcely necessary for me to add that the plants 
are worthless and should be thrown away after the flowering 
season is past. 



ANNUALS IN THE WINTER WINDOW-GARDEN. 

What annuals can be satisfactorily raised in the winter window- 
garden, and how are they best managed ? 

Eight or ten years ago I began experimenting with annuals in 
the house in winter, sometimes only from curiosity, and because 
they gave interest and variety to the work, and I find those in the 
following list can be very safely recommended : Alyssum and 
Mignonette for fragrance; Petunias, Schizanthus, Astei's, Balsams 
and Mimulus for their free-flowering qualities, and Browallia, 

Lobelia and Ageratum 
for blue colors. The fol- 
lowing are also very 
good : Candytuft, Canna, 
Vinca, Stock, Mesembry- 
anthemum, Alonsoa, Sal- 
via, Phlox, Portulaca 
and Mimosa. For climb- 
ers there are Coboea, 
Maurandya, both excel- 
lent, Ipomoea, Thunber- 
gia, Cardiospermum and 
PETUNIAS IN VARIETY. Tropscolum, all but the 

first mentioned suitable for baskets. Many coarse annuals, too, 
can be flowered in the window, though it is not advisable to give 
them room often. When the requisite coolness and humidity of air 
can be secured, we may have some of our little moisture-loving 
favorites, such as Whitlavia, Nemophila, and even the Pansy. 

How are they best managed ? In starting seeds and cuttings, 
or in dotting plants, I am always careful to have good drainage, 
generally using charcoal, for it is convenient, and helps to keep 
the soil in the pots sweet. A good rich soil, free from insects, and 
made light with a fourth part sand, and a little leaf-mold, agrees 
with most plants. Cuttings that root easily, such as those of Petunia, 
Browallia, Ageratum, &c., I insert firmly in a pot of very sandy soil, 
water well and place in a sheltered corner of the veranda, where 
they are shielded from the strong winds and the hot noon-day sun, 
but get the morning sunshine; keeping the soil moist they root in a 
very few days. 




■r 



ANNUALS IN THE WINTER WINDOW-GARDEN. 17 

Seeds of Sweet Alyssum I start the last of August. From 
hree to six young plants can be started in a good sized pot. A 
good light is needed while the plants are young, but after flowering 
much sunlight is not required. Alyssum is good for baskets, but 
mine are drooping from a bracket on a level with my face, that I 
may the more conveniently inhale their fragrance, so like the sweet- 
ness of the wee white Violets I used to gather from the sunny 
knolls in the old orchard. 

Ageratum I prefer to grow from cuttings, but young seedlings 
do equally %vell. I take cuttings from flowering plants in the 
garden about the middle of summer, and pot for the house after they 
are well rooted ; they are loaded with flowers all winter. Once I 
neglected to take cuttings at the right time, but had plants on the 
veranda that had been blooming in pots all summer. I cut them 
back severely ; they rapidly made a new growth and bloomed well, 
but not so freely as those grown from cuttings. 

Alonsoa will please those who like small, bright flowers. 
Young plants can be potted in the fall, and with care, if kept 
rather warm, will floAver well. 

Aster seeds can be sown late in the spring, or in June, and the 
young plants transplanted several times; this will cause them to 
be " stocky," and to have good roots. Give a rich soil and plenty 
of room in a cool place. If the weather is dry, water and mulch. 
Thus treated, handsome specimens may be obtained, which may be 
taken up in the fall w^hen in blossom. Place each plant in a pot 
just large enough to hold it easily, aivl remove to a cool situation 
in the house. 

Browallia seeds can be started in the summer, and the plants 
raised in pots, and brought along in the cold frame, if this conven- 
ience is possessed. As the plants grow, pinch them back occasionally, 
don't neglect it, and they will branch out generously, and be in 
good condition to take into the house in the fall. Use some leaf- 
mold in the soil, I prefer to raise the plants from cuttings. A fair 
amount of sun, warmth and water seems to suit them. They 
brighten my window all winter with their cheerful and abundant 
blue and white flowers. The green aphis loves the Browallia. I 
look for him if I see a leaf turning brown. He is easily smoked 
out without harm to the plant. 

Young Balsam plants can be potted when two inches high, shift- 
ing as needed to a size larger pot; but the best way is to take cut- 
tings from the side branches of the best varieties, about the first of 



i8 , GARDEN ESSAYS. 

August. When potted for the house, give a rich soil and a good 
light. After the blossoms are well developed they are more endur- 
ing if kept somewhat cool. 

Any of the Calendulas or Marigolds will blossom in the house, 
if one cares to give them room. 

Candytuft is beautiful in a hanging basket. The white is the 
prettiest. With good soil and treatment it will bloom long and 
abundantly in the winter. Seeds can be sown directly in the recep- 
tacle in which it is desired that they should flower, if preferred. 

Centaurea Cyanus ; I once transferred a few thrifty young 
plants of Bachelor's Button from the garden to the house, in autumn, 
and every one was surprised and interested to see them blooming 
freely in the winter beside my choice greenhouse plants. 

Canna is one of the few things that will bear to be taken up 
roughly, and brought forward to the heat and light without cere- 
mony. I generally take two large pots, just alike, plant a clump of 
dark variety in one, and one of light ones in the other. Placed 
each side of the window they match well and give the winter garden 
a tropical aspect. Cannas will flourish, blossom, and even ripen 
their seeds in the winter, if their quarters are warm and sunny. 
When the old stalks are done blooming, they can be cut away, 
giving room to the younger shoots, which will bloom in their turn ; 
when they, also, can be cut away, giving place to the fresher stalks 
that are constantly springing from the roots of the plant. 

Celosia; young plants can be taken care of in pots during the 
summer, or plants can be lifted from the garden and removed to 
the window. 

I once saw a plant of Cleome in a window, and it was quite a 
handsome bush. 

I have beeen unable to improve upon my first experience in 
starting Coboea seeds. In March I planted them, edgewise in a 
well-drained box of very light sandy soil. The earth was moist, so 
I did not water any, but dipped a flannel cloth in water, wrung it, 
and wrapped the whole box in it, and placed it behind the sitting- 
room stove. As often as the cloth became dry, I repeated the 
operation, watching closely until I knew the seeds had sprouted by 
the earth being lifted in little places in the box. Then I dispensed 
with the cloth, and immediately placed the box in a warm, sunny 
window. In a few hours the lubberly young plants lifted, and wei-e 
helping themselves to their first meal of sunshine. Wl^en they were 
about four inches high, I potted one of the best in an eight or ten- 



ANNUALS IN THE WINTER WINDOW-GARDEN. 19 

inch pot, giving support. When four or five feet high I transplanted 
it to one end of a large window box, which was furnished with 
other plants, a high arched trellis and castors. I kept it on the 
veranda through the summer, then it was removed to the window, 
where it bloomed long and continuously. In using large boxes for 
flowering plants, I improvise partitions, so that the roots of each 
plant may have no more room than it needs. I place shingles or 
thin boards, edgewise in the box. The earth will hold them in 
place. This causes the plants to flower very freely. The Cobcea 
requires a rich soil, plenty of room, warmth, sunshine and water. I 
start Coboea cuttings in sand, under glass, and sometimes propagate 
them by layering, cutting a notch near a joint. 




MORNING GLORY. 

Convolvulus ; If I could afford nothing but Morning Glories, I 
would still have a gay window garden. One came up by chance 
in my window, and bloomed finely. Convolvulus minor is beautiful 
in baskets, the flowers looking as delicate as soap bubbles. 

Cardiospermum seeds grow easily, if started in a warm place. 
The plant grows fast, and is a pretty vine for the house, but will not 
bear getting chilled. With me it is troubled with the aphis, but he 
is easily smoked out. 

Dianthus can be flowered in the house, but winter Carnations 
are so much nicer that it hardly pays. 

Fenzlia is a little jewel in pots or mixed baskets. 

Ipomoeas are nice in pots with trellis, or baskets. They require 
considerable heat. I. coccinea will run above the windows in winter. 

Leptosiphon is delicate and pretty in pots or baskets. Give it a 
light soil and a cool place. 



20 , GARDEN ESSAYS. 

Linum ; this airy and graceful flower is quite pretty in mixed 
baskets. I never tried any but the red in winter. 

The trailing annual Lobelias are valuable for winter use, espe- 
cially suitable in small baskets. Seeds start readily in a light rich 
soil, and even young plants, if given good light, grow fast in the 
winter garden and bloom freely. The deep, rich blue is very lovely 
grown in the same pot with Alyssum. 

For winter use seeds of Maurandya can be started late, but I 
prefer to take cuttings from the veranda or in the garden. The fine 
branches, wnth their delicate but abundant foliage and beautiful 
flowers, should be allowed to droop, or run up the wires of the 
basket and loop and twist about in their own graceful way. A 
rich, light soil, warmth and sunshine suit it. 

Mignonette one should never be without, for it can be grown at 
any time. Its perfume reminds me of the delicious fragrance of 
freshly gathered red Raspberries. Sow seeds the last of Angust. 
It will droop if you prefer it to ; it is a good companion to Alyssum. 
With these two sweet little flowers, and a few small Rose Geranium 
leaves, worn in the corsage or the hair, no jewelry is needed, and 
in contrast wnth their fragrance, the most costly perfume is gross. 

Mesembryanthemums are easily grown from the seeds. They 
are adapted to baskets. Care must be taken not to break their 
tender branches. I am cax-eful to give them fresh air to prevent 
their damping off, as they sometimes do if they are kept too warm 
and moist without air; still they will not do well in a chilly room. 

Mimulus is an excellent winter bloomer ; healthy, and requiring 
only good, fair care. Its branches are tender, and care should be 
taken not to break them. It is a nice basket plant. M. moschatus, 
yellow, though not quite as pretty as some varieties, is interesting on 
account of its musky fragrance. 

Nolana is a good basket plant. For winter use seeds can be 
sown in July. It transplants easily, does best in a light, sandy sojl. 
Flowes resemble those of Convolvulus minor, but are more solid, 
and close in the afternoon. 

Nemophila is one of the loveliest little flowers when well grown. 
It has fern-like foliage and perfect form. If seeds are sown late, we 
may have them in winter, if a cool place and humid air can be 
secured. 

If Nierembergia seeds are sown late in the summer and the 
young plants transplanted to a basket, they will give their graceful 
flowers in the winter. 



ANNUALS IN THE WINTER WINDOW-GARDEN. 21 

Phacelia makes a charming pot plant, not so much on account 
of its neat httle flowers as for its abundant fern-hke foliage and 
beautiful form. It must be well watered, and needs a cool, moist 
place, but is not so particular in this respect as Nemophila. I have 
only tried the blue Phacelia. 

Portulaca ; it is well to fill a pot or basket with cuttings about the 
last of August, for thev root quickly and bloom well in the house 
in winter. 

I love Pansies so well that I always try to find a place to suit 
them, I have a large, well ventilated, mouse-proof cellar, well 
lighted by double glass windows. On the broad ledge of the south 
window, I sometimes place a box of Pansies, and sometimes 
Nemophila and Whitlavia, and they do the best there of any place 
I ever tried. Last summer, I found I could start Whitlavia from 
slips, for I did in July. 

Perilla is quite serviceable as a foliage plant for the house, if one 
has nothing better. The leaves of my variety have a strong, 
peculiar, but pleasant scent. 

The Petunia is something of solid worth. I used to take the 
late plants from the garden, that had not bloomed, looking as though 
they were ready to do the best of service, but with the best of care 
they would never bloom till toward spring. The right way ever}' 
time is to take slips. A year ago last July I started a box of cuttings 
of the best single varieties in my garden. They rooted nicely, and 
I planted five in a box fifteen inches long by nine inches wide, 
placing one plant in the middle and one in each corner. The rest 
I gave each a pot by itself. Supports were given, as they always 
should be to all plants that need it, keeping the plants in good 
shape. The first of October they began blooming, and oh, what a 
wealth of blossoms those Petunias gave for ten months. All through 
the dead of winter there were from two hundred and fifty to three 
hundred blossoms, which hung in wreaths — white, red, striped and 
blotched — in that box alone, besides hundreds of buds just opening. 
And the foliage as beautiful as that of a Heliotrope, was thick 
and gi*een, drooping over the box, completely hiding the soil and 
supports. I use soot- water quite freely on all my plants, for I am 
certain that it helps to keep the lower foliage bright. Petunias like 
sunshine and plenty of warmth. They need more warmth to produce 
flowers than to produce leaves. This winter I have them in hang- 
ing baskets. 

Phlox will bloom gaily in the winter garden, and young plants 



22 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

can be grown in summer for this purpose. Give them fresh air, and 
do not crowd them too much, or they will mildew. 

Sensitive Plant ; start seeds under glass, and pot one of the best 
of the young plants, plunging the pot in the earth, after the weather 
is warm, transferring it to the house in the fall. 




TROP.EOLUM. 



Ten Weeks Stocks, for winter use, I would prefer to raise from 
seeds sown late in the season, if it were not for the danger of the 
plants proving to bear single flowers, and single Stocks are worth- 
less. So I go to the garden, when the character of the plant is 
determined, and very carefully take up the best of the most back- 
ward, and pot them in rich soil, plunging the pots in a cool place, 
keeping watered if the weather is dry. When removed to the 
house keep cool and moist. 

Seeds of the Schizanthus sown in July or August, in light, rich 
soil, will give plants that will bloom in winter ; but, for earlier use, 
old plants may be removed from the garden to the house. 

Thunbergia seeds germinate easily if kept warm and moist,, 
either in the house or later in the open ground. I place the eye of 
the seed downward. Pots with young plants may be plunged dur- 
ing the summer, that is, buried in the earth to the rim of the pot. 
Give the vines support early and pinch occasionally. Or, cuttings 
may be taken from the plants in the garden. The red spider some- 
times attacks it, but has never troubled me. T. alata grows from 
twelve to fifteen feet high here in the open ground. I think T. 
Bakeri is the prettiest. 

Tropseolum Lobbianum is easily grown from seeds or cuttings. 



ANNUALS IN THE WINTER WINDOW-GARDEN. 23 

It is free from insects, and fine for pots or baskets. I always take 
especial pains with the drainage, and have the soil such as water 
will readily perforate, or they will sometimes drop their lower 
leaves, which ruins the appearance of any plant to me. A too heavy- 
soil is, in effect, only another style of bad drainage. With me, a 
somewhat cool, moist air and even temperature suit it best. 

1 have also experimented with Euphorbia, Mirabilis, and others, 
with indifferent success. I intend to try them again. In conclusion, 
I would say to all : Grow flowers, " love truth, love God, love virtue, 
and be happy." 



WINTER SUPPLY OF VIOLETS AND PANSIES. 

How can am. >urs without greenhouses keep up a winter 
supply of Violets and Pansies? 

To grow Violets in winter outside of a greenhouse, is considered 
by practical gardeners one of the easiest things to perform. Many 
florists keep them in cold-frames exclusively, for, as a rule, they 
have not room for them in their greenhouses, unless a house is built 
on purpose for them. They may be grown in pots, as window 
plants, provided plenty of air can be given on sunuy days, and a 
steady temperature between 35° and 55° can be kept up. If kept 
in too high an artificial temperature they will not flower much, but 
will make up in red spider what they lack in blossom. A Geranium, 
a Carnation and a Monthly Rose may be wintered and flowered at 
a low temperature, if plenty of sunlight prevails. An occasional 
little frost will not hurt the Geranium : the Carnation can bear con- 
siderable frost, and the Rose is the hai-diest of them all. Yet all these 
three named plants will do admirably in an avei^age temperature of 
60°. With the Violet it is different, and it wants to be kept cool at all 
times, if it is expected that it will fulfill its mission. All this does 
not imply that the temperature of a Violet house or frame should 
never be allowed to run up to 60°, because sometimes the heat in 
the day time is not always under control. The sun may sometimes 
make the atmosphere under glass warmer than the gardener would 
like to have it, but to raise the sash only one inch would let the frost in 
and do more damage than the heat. In such a case a little too 
high temperature is the least evil. 

A good place to grow Violets may be constructed at the south 
side of a dwelling. Dig a pit two feet deep along the house. Into 
this put a stout frame to receive common hot-bed sash, the sash to 
lean against the building. Tear down the wall that separates the 
frame from the cellar under the house, and put a row of windows 
in its place. The idea of this is, that the natural heat in the cellar 
shall keep your Violet frame at a steady temperature. At the same 
time you may work over your flowers, no matter what the outside 
weather may be, and when no air can be given from the outside, it 
may be done indirectly inside. When the outside sash is open, the 
inside may be shut. Thus the sun will warm up the cellar, and 
perhaps store a little heat for the night. Is your cellar already 



WINTER SUPPLY OF VIOLETS AND PANSIES. 25 

warmed up by a furnace? If it is, then I am sorry, but even in that 
case, we can regulate the temperature by having the inside sash 
open but a little ; or, perhaps the furnace heat will save the trouble 
of covering up nights. Keep your eye on the thermometer, and by 
a little watching you will soon learn what to do, I said dig a pit 
two feet deep. This must be filled in again to tho depth of one 

foot \yith some good 
garden loam, well 
composted with stable 
manui-e, well rotted, 
thus making the Vio- 
let bed about one foot 
lower than the surface 
of the ground outside. 
There are, however, 
houses where a frame 
like the one described 
would be an archi- 
tectural impossibility, 
or the owner might 
object to having his^ 
house disfigured in 
such a manner. In 
such cases we must 
resort to the common 
cold-frame, A sim- 
ple frame, made of 
heavy plank, settled 
in the ground, cov- 
ered with hot-bed 
sash and protected 
with straw mats and 
shutters, will keep 
Violets well. There 
is, however, a great drawback to such frames, and that is, that there 
may be times when you would like to pick a bunch of flowers out of 
them, but cannot get at them on account of too cold weather. Thex^e 
may be plenty of them there, they smile at you, or perhaps mock you 
through the glass, but to raise the sash for only two minutes would 
soon set their smiles to rest, and yours as well, for that matter. 

I will here describe a frame that will not onlv remove these 




26 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

obstacles, but at the same time be perfectly sae from frost, which is 
not always the case with the common cold-frame, not even with the 
heaviest covering. Select a space with a southern exposure, and 
dig a pit six feet deep, it may be deeper, or not quite so deep, 
according to locality. I choose six feet because it is a convenient 
depth to walk upright in. The length and width must be governed 
by the size and number of your sash, but as the size commonly used 
is three feet by six, we will take that as our standard. This would 
make our pit a little less than six feet wide, making allowance for 
pitch of the sash. Board up this pit inside, to keep the earth from 
caving. The boarding will terminate in the frame to take the sash. 
Inside of this structure build a table three and one-half feet wide, 
such as you see in most greenhouses, and two and one-half 
feet from its highest point. I allow one foot slant for a six-foot 
sash. You will find a bench three and one-half feet wide about as 
wide as you care to reach across. It leaves a space over two feet 
in width for a walk. A still better plan would be to make the 
bench six inches narrower, and leaving that space behind for the 
air to circulate through. 

But how are you going to get into it? To do that you must 
sacrifice the space of one sash, or rather make your pit and frame 
three feet longer than you have sash to put on. This space must 
be partitioned off from the rest of the pit and a door put in opposite 
the walk. Next, put in some stairs and cover the whole tightly 
with heavy boards, leaving a hole for a trap-door, just large enough 
to let you through conveniently. You may call this part an entry, 
ante-room, hallway, vestibule, or anything you please. Once inside 
this structure, the world is shut off from you ; you are separated from 
its distinctions and its cares. Left alone with your flowers, over 
your head the winds may roar and the snowflakes may fall, you will 
mind them not, for you are in a world entirely your own. But I 
am going too fast, for as yet our frame has nothing to show but bare 
boards. 

The principle on which a pit like this works is, that it is dug out 
far beyond the frost line. The heat radiating from this large surface 
of unfrozen earth is sufficient to keep Jack Frost at bay, and that is 
all the heat a Violet or Pansy requires to live and thrive. 

In localities where there is much zero weather it would be well 
to remove the earth around the frame to the depth of two feet, and 
three feet wide. This cavity to be filled with leaves, litter and 
fresh horse manure well trodden down. In any case the glass must 



WINTER SUPPLY OF VIOLETS AND PANSIES. 27 

be covered in severe nights with straw mats or shutters, or both. 
And now let us take the more pleasant topic : The cultivation of 
the Violet. 

The varieties mostly cultivated for winter flowering are the 
Neapolitan, a light blue, double one, and Marie Louise, a dark blue 
and also double. Both are varieties of the so-called English 
Violet, Viola odorata. They are propagated by cuttings, or by 
dividing the old plants. The latter is the better method for ama- 
teurs. The best time to do this is the month of April, when the old 
plants are through flowering, and as soon as the ground is in good 
working order, so that the divided plants can be set out in the open 
ground at once, where they are to remain during summer. This 
must be repeated every spring. Select only the best and throw 
the rest away or give to some friend, it will not do to set out the 
whole clumps of old plants. During the hot months of summer 
they will not grow much, they are children of a temperate climate. 
It is well to give them some protection. Some let weeds grow 
over them for the sake of shade, but to let weeds grow is against 
the true principles of gardening, and if Violets do better under the 
protection of other plants, why not mix them with cultivated ones ? 
1 plant mine in the same rows with Carnations that are intended for 
vrinter-flowering, planting a Violet and Carnation alternately. 
Nothing needs to be done to then\ during summer, besides weeding 
and cutting off the runners, until they are to be removed to winter 
quarters. 

In about the month of September prepare the bed that is to 
receive your Violets. If a solid bed, as in the frame first described, 
the soil should be from ten inches to a foot deep ; if a raised bench, 
five or six inches will be sufficient. The soil must be rich, and, if 
possible, of a nature to retain moisture. After the bed is prepared 
plant the Violets in rows across the bench. The rows to be a foot 
apart and as many plants in the row as you can get in without 
crowding them too much. Water them well with a sprinkler to 
settle the earth around the roots, and give them partial shade, but 
no glass yet. When the plants show signs of growth, gradually 
remove the shade and give them a thorough soaking with soapsuds 
warm from the wash-tub. Put on the glass when frost threatens. 
Ventilate whenever the weather permits, and on very mild days 
remove the glass entirely, or at least every other sash. Keep them 
free from weeds, cut off all runners and carefully remove all mouldy 
and rotten leaves. Water freelv whenever the surface of the soil shows 



28 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

indications of dryness, but Avithout wetting the foliage. To bring 
the flowers to the greatest perfection there is nothing better than 
soapsuds applied about once a month. But never do any kind of 
watering unless the ground asks for it by the dry appearance of its 
surface. I have allowed my Violets to go for two months without 
water. 

Pansies require about the same winter treatment as Violets, only 
give them the sunniest place in the frame. Sow your seeds in the 
beginning of August, in a cool situation. Sow plenty of it, because 
the plants will not all be good for winter flowering. When the 
young seedlings are large enough to be handled, prick them out in 
a prepared border of good rich soil, about four inches apart, and 
keep them well watered. In the first week of October they should 
have fairly begun to flower. Select only the best for winter bloom- 
ing, and do not plant any in your frame that has not shown at least 
one flower, for after the first flower more are sure to follow. After 
having your bed planted to your own satisfaction, give it all the 
care you can, after the rules above given, and 'an abundance of 
flowers will be your reward. 




How can the finest pot-plants of Chrysanthemums be raised, 
and what varieties are desirable ? 

Young cuttings of this popular fall-flowering plant should be 
rooted in sand, in greenhouse, with a gentle bottom heat, any time 
from the third week in February to the middle of March. About 
the first of April the rooted cuttings should be potted into three- 
inch pots, using any common garden soil. Those who do not have 
the convenience of a greenhouse, yet have the roots of last year's 
plants, which have been kept through the winter in boxes of soil in 
a light cellar, or protected in a cold-frame, should, about the first of 



30 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

April, divide the roots, putting a small piece of the root and shoots 
into a three-inch pot, the same as a rooted cutting. Water moder- 
ately at first, and keep the plants in the house or under glass. 
Three or four weeks after this all should be repotted into four-inch 
pots, adding rather richer soil, and water as they need, and pinch 
out the top shoots to form them into good shape. 

The next shift should be into six-inch pots, using good, rich 
soil, and about the middle of May plunge the pots into the ground, 
nearly up to the rim, about eighteen inches apart, in that part of 
the garden facing to the southeast, giving more water if the weather 
should be dry and warm. Also give them M^eak liquid manure 
occasionally, and stop, or pinch off, the shoots to make them bushy. 
They can be raised to a single stem or bushy down to the soil, 
according to the grower's fancy. Having tried both, I prefer the 
latter method. 

To obtain good, large, healthy plants, the last shifting should be 
made into eight or ten-inch pots, adding the best rich soil made 
from old, well-rotted cow manui-e, or from old hot-beds. This last 
potting into their blooming pots should not be later than the second 
week in June, sinking the pots a little deeper in the ground, and 
two feet apart. The pinching off the top shoots must not be neg- 
lected, as they grow rapidly about this time; this may be done 
from time to time until about the last week in July, after which 
time they should be let grow to form their flowering buds, staking 
and tying out as they may require. Special attention must be given 
to watering ; through the hot, diy weather of July and August they 
must be thoroughly watered at least twice every day, except in case 
the weather should be showery, and in extreme hot, diy winds even 
three times a day would be better. It will also be very beneficial 
to them, when the buds begin to form, to give them a good soaking 
lyith guano water twice a week. One large tablespoonful to two 
gallons of soft water will be strong enough ; if this should be too 
offensive to the smell, the same proportion of Bowker's Flower 
Food can be used. 

It is a very good plan to mulch the top of the pots with coarse, 
rotted cow manure ; it will prevent the soil from getting hard in 
the pots from continual watering, also keep the roots cool. The 
pots should remain in the ground until the nights get cold, when 
they should be lifted to the surface, placed securely so that they 
will not be blown down by wind or storm, thus being ready to be 
lifted into shelter when there is danger of frost. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 3i 

The insects known as the black aphides are very fond of these 
plants, fixing themselves generally around the young shoots and 
flowering buds. The most effecctive way to get rid of them is to 
get a quarter or half pound of fine tobacco dust, sprinkle it with 
the thumb and fingers on the tops of the plants after rain, or after 
being watered ; most of the insects will step down or fall down, 
and the few that remain can be washed off in watering. As often 
as the insects return give them the same reception, so that they will 
not have time to damage the buds or plants. 

To decide what varieties are best for pot plants is the most diffi- 
cult task, so many new and valuable ones being introduced every 
year. There are three classes of Chrysanthemums, viz.: Japanese, 
Chinese and Pompon. The first has ragged and fringed, large, 
loose flowers. One of the very best of this class is La Frisure, 
being dwarf, very early, large flower much fringed, light blush 
color, changing to nearly white ; Elaine, Lady Selborne and Mrs. 
Charles Cary are all splendid, and pure white ; Golden Dragon, 
twisted petals, large and good, golden yellow; Grandiflorum, very 
large, one of the very best, golden yellow; Hackney Holmes, 
splendid, bright crimson, tipped with gold; Rex rubrorum, rich 
crimson; Rosea superba, lilac rose, tipped with buff, large and 
good; Nuit d'Hiver, dwarf and free, bronze and brown, tipped 
with gold ; Rubra striata, rosy salmon, very pretty. 

Chinese varieties — Mrs. George Rundell, one of the ver}- best in 
cultivation, pure white, incurved; Spotless, large and good, pure 
white; Webb's Queen, large and good, blush white; Golden 
Empress, very fine, primrose yellow, incurved ; Jardin des Plantes, 
golden yellow, good ; Lady Talfourd, delicate rose-lilac, splendid, 
incurved; Prince of Wales, rich violet-plum, very fine ; President 
Wilder, large, crimson, tipped with gold, yellow button in center, 
very fine; Duchess of Connaught, large and finely incurved, 
splendid form, silver blush ; Felicity, flowers large and fine, cream 
color, late. 

Pompon varieties — Arbre de Noel, compact and good, bronze 
and chrome ; Bob and Fanny, both red and good, the latter late ; 
Madamoiselle Marthe, flowers in large clusters, very fine, pure 
white; Montgolfier, beautiful, maroon, tipped with gold; Salamon, 
rich violet-plum ; Model of Perfection, lilac and white ; General 
Canrobert, fine and early, pure yellow ; Souvenir de Jersey, small, 
good, golden yellow, late;- La Vierge, large, pure white; Perle des 
Beauties, large and good, rich amaranth pui-ple. 



32 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

The above are all good and quite reliable varieties. There are 
many others not named in this list that are jery good, but most of 
the above varieties have been proved and found to be some of the 
very best. I find that many of the new varieties are not as hardy 
as some of the older kinds, especially some of the Japanese varieties 
lately introduced. Therefore it is necessary that these should be 
grown in pots, so that they can easily be taken into the house to 
prevent injury from early frosts. 

As there is quite a difference between the early and late varie- 
ties, all who love these popular and beautiful late autumn flowers 
can enjoy their beauty from the first of November until Christmas 
or New Years day. 



THE CALCEOLARIA. 

When well grown, the herbaceous Calceolarias are very beauti- 
ful, and a few years ago they were among the most popular winter 
blooming plants; but unfortunately they were crowded aside by 
other plants, and for several years their merits remained unnoticed ; 
of late they are beginning to receive more attention. 

They are, by many, considered rather difficult to cultivate, but 
such is not the case if their requirements are understood. The 
mistakes in their culture consist in growing them in too high a 
temperature instead of a cool one, in over-potting and over- watering 
the plants while small, and by so doing materially injuring their 
health and vigor of growth, thus rendering them liable to the 
attacks of numerous insect pests. 

The best time for sowing the seed is from the middle of May to 
the middle of June, for it will vegetate much better if sown before 
the hot weather sets in. 

In order to cultivate the Calceolaria readily and successfully a 
cold-frame will be found to be absolutely necessary ; this should 
be placed on a bed of coal ashes, in a partially shaded situation, 
and the sash whitewashed or painted, so as to shield the plants 
from the hot sun. The sash can be raised or closed as may be 
necessary to protect the plants from severe stoi-ms and sudden 
changes in temperature. 

The seed should be sown in a well drained pot or pan, filled 
with light, loamy soil ; sow it very thinly and press into the earth 
with the bottom of a pot. Place the pot or pan in the cold-frame, 
and keep it rather close until the young plants make their appear- 
ance. The soil in the pans should be dampened occasionally, but 
avoid keeping them too wet, as it may cause the young plants to 
damp off. 

As soon as the plants are strong enough to handle, they should 
be transplanted into other pans similarly prepared, and placed about 
an inch and a half apart each way. These young plants should be 
carefully watered, and kept close and moist for a few days ; but 
when they have taken root a little air should be given in order to 
prevent them from becoming drawn. As soon as the plants com- 
mence to touch each other they should be transplanted into three- 
inch pots filled with light rich soil, and be watered thoroughly, 



34 



GARDEN ESSAYS. 



and then placed in the cold-frame as close together as possible, but 
the plants should not set so close as to touch each other. Keep 
the air rather close for a few days to enable them to take root, and 
afterwards give a little air day and night. As soon as the pots are 
fairly filled with roots, the plants should be shifted into pots two 
sizes larger, and treated precisely as before. This treatment should 
be continued through the entire summer and to the approach of 

cold weather, when 
the plants should be 
brought inside and 
placed in the coolest 
part of the green- 
house. If specimen 
plants are wanted, the 
repotting should be 
continued until the 
plants occupy eight 
or nine-inch pots. 
Never permit the 
leaves of one plant to 
touch those of another 
from the time the 
young plants make 
their appearance until 
they have ceased 
CALCEOLARIAS. blooming. 

Drainage is of the utmost importance; even the smallest sized 
pots should be one-third filled. In draining place a large piece of 
pot over the hole in the bottom of the pots, then around and above 
it place several smaller, and gradually use smaller pieces until the 
pot is one third filled, and over this place a layer of moss to prevent 
the soil from falling through. 

■ The soil should be light and rich and composed of two-thirds 
well decayed sods, one-third well decomposed cow or sheep manure, 
with a fair sprinkling of bone dust and sharp sand. Mix thoroughly 
and use the compost rough. In potting press it down well around 
the plants. 

The precise time of blooming of Calceolarias will depend 
greatly on the temperature and situation in which the plants are 
grown, and as they do best in a cool temperature they will not 
usually commence to bloom until the end of February or first of 




THE CALCEOLARIA. 35 

March, and they usually remain in bloom for a month or six weeks 
if the flowers are not permitted to become injured by damp. It is 
best to retard the flowering somewhat, for the flowers will be small 
and the plants will continue to bloom for a short time only, if forced 
into bloom. 

The Calceolaria is very subject to the attacks of the red-spider 
and the green-fly. To avoid the spiders the plants at all times 
should be grown in a moist, cool atmosphere, but in the dark, dull 
days of winter be careful to guard against damp, which would soon 
destroy the foliage. The green-fly £an be prevented by scattering 
a few leaves or stems of tobacco among the plants in the cold-frame 
and renewing them occasionally. In the greenhouse they should 
be given a slight fumigation of tobacco. 

Every day the plants should be carefully examined and thor- 
oughly watered, if necessary. It is of the highest importance in 
the successful cultivation of the Calceolaria to secure an uninter- 
rupted growth from seed to bloom. To secure this the plants must 
be given a suitable soil, an ample supply of room for their roots, 
and they must be thoroughly watered whenever necessaiy. To do 
all this requires considerable care and attention, for a little neglect 
will almost ruin the plants. But no plant will much better repay 
the care and attention bestowed upon it than the Calceolaria. 



THE CYCLAMEN. 

What is the best method of treatment in the propagation and 
cultivation of the Cyclamen to secure fine blooming plants ? 

The genus Cyclamen is composed of some seven or eight species, 
and their several varieties. They are low plants, having very 
beautiful flowers and veiy prettily marked leaves. They are natives 
of Europe and Asia, some varieties being very abundant in Switz- 
erland and Italy. Although some of the varieties are to be found 
in almost every greenhouse, yet the Cyclamen is too little known 
when we consider the ease with which it can be cultivated, and the 
length of time the flowers remain in perfection, the profusion of 
bloom, to say nothing of its great value for greenhouse and window 
garden decoration. 

The plants are easily cultivated, doing best in a compost of two 
parts of well decayed sods, one of leaf-mold, or cow dung, and a 
little sharp sand. A sprinkling of soot thoroughly mixed Math the 
soil will increase the size and brilliancy of the bloom. In potting, 
be sure to drain well, as good drainage is indispensible to success; 
if the pots are filled about one-third with drainage it is none too 
much. Use porous or soft-baked pots by all means, and let the size 
of the pot be determined by the size of the plant, remembering, as 
a rule, that Cyclamens do not require large pots. When first potted 
w^ater thoroughly, afterwards more sparingly, until growth com- 
mences. When potted the plants can be placed in a cold-frame, in 
any sunny situation, from which the sashes can be removed on all 
favorable occasions, and water given as required. On the approach 
of cool weather they should be brought inside and placed in a light, 
sunny position where they can be given a winter temperature of 
from 40° to 50°. During growth and flowering water should be 
given as often as necessary, and liquid manure water at least twice 
a week. After their flowering season water should be gradually 
withheld, but do not permit them to become absolutely dry. About 
the first of May they can be planted out in a nicely prepared border, 
one having a northexiy or easterly exposure being preferred. Place 
the plants about six inches apart each way, and let the bulbs or 
corms be placed at least two inches under gronnd. Keep them 
clear and free from weeds, and about the first of September they 
can be taken up and potted, as above advised. No watering is 



THE CYCLAMEN. 



37 



required after they are planted out, but care is necessary to guard 
against mice, as they are very fond of the bulbs, and often destroy 
great numbers of them. 

Propagation is readily effected by seeds, which should be sown 
about the first of February, in a pot or pan filled with a compost of 
light sandy soil. Sow thinly and cover very slightly, and place in 
a warm situation as close to the glass as possible. Keep moist 
until the young plants make their appearance, which will be in 
about three Aveeks, although it occasionally takes three months for 
some of the seeds to vegetate, so do not be impatient if the young 

plants do not appear 
at once. As soon 
as the seedlings 
are large enough to 
handle they should 
be transferred to 
thumb pots or else 
into seed-pans, plac- 
ing them at least 
two inches apart ; 
place these young 
plants in a situation 
similar to that in 
which the seed-pans 
were placed, and 
water very carefully, 
as to dry or drown 
them is equally in- 
jurious, and, as soon 
as they attain a 
larger size, they 
should be trans- 
ferred into three- 
inch pots. In about 
eight or ten weeks 
some of them will be large enough to be transferred into four-inch 
pots, which is large enough to bloom them in, and treat the others 
similarly as soon as they are of sufficient size. If carefully treated 
the plants of all the species will be large enough to bloom in the 
fall, excepting Cyclamen Persicum and its varieties, which will begin 
to flower in January. 




THE CYLAMEN. 



38 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

It will thus be seen that by sowing the seed early and keepings 
the plants growing during the summer, nice blooming plants are 
soon obtained. The best place for growing the young plants during 
the summer season is to take a cold-frame and place it on a bed of 
coal ashes in any partially shaded situation, and in the frame place 
the young plants. By the means of sashes the young plants Can be 
protected from storms and ruin, and they can be easily watered 
when necessary, and, besides, a part of the frame can be used for 
growing Primulas, Cinerarias, and Calceolarias, if not wanted for 
Cyclamens. 

Of the several species, C. Europasum, pinkish-purple, and C. 
Europseum album, pure white, bloom from October to January, 
while the Ivy-leaved, C. hsederifolium, with its very large rosy-purple 
flowers blooms from September to January. "When well grown 
these are extremely pretty plants, and it is to be regretted that they 
are so rarely seen in cultivation at the present time. C. Persicum, 
and its varieties, stand at the head of the family, and are the ones 
most generally cultivated; a packet or two of any good strain will 
give all sorts of different shades of color, from pure white to the 
deepest red and spotted. Of late there has been much improvement 
in the size and form of the flowers, and these varieties are offered 
under the names of C. Persicum grandiflorum and C. Persicum 
giganteum. The bulbs of this species are so flat and so nearly alike 
on each side that amateur cultivators are often puzzled to know 
which is the top. If carefully examined the remnants or scars of 
old leaf-stems will be seen, indicating the upper part, and it should 
be remembered that the corms or bulbs of Cyclamens are quite 
worthless after their third season of blooming, so that it is advisable 
to raise a few plants from seed every year. 

The red spider is the only insect that troubles the Cyclamen^ 
and as a remedy I advise dipping the leaves of the plant in soapy 
water every day from the time the insects are noticed until they are 
all destroyed, indeed, it is advisable to dip the plants twice a week 
as a preventive rather than a remedy. 



^ THE ROSE AS A HOUSE PLANT. 
How can the Rose be best managed as a house plant, and what 
varieties are most suitable for that purpose ? 

Many a Rose lover, discouraged by repeated failure, has gazed 
with envy upon the thriftiness of some old fashioned Rose, crimson 
with its wealth of half-double flowers. The uncultured mind, 
whose one success it is, cherishes it as a miracle of beauty 
and so it is, in contrast to its barren surroundings and the battered 
tin pail, its abiding place. One who is obliged to dwell in a habit- 
ation barren of luxuries, and without works of art which are abhor- 
rent of steam, and a "best room," which monopolizes south win- 
dows, but having a lined box for the night protection of plants, 
may delight in Roses with comparatively little trouble. 

The power to command a conservatory ought also to command 
knowledge and appliances that will make work easy. I address 
my topic to the difficulties so much more numerous, that beset ordi- 
nary house culture, with its rooms papered and carpeted, and its 
cherished bric-a-brac. 

All Rose culture must compass certain conditions; good soil, 
fresh and well tempered air, moisture and protection from all 
enemies, and, for abundant flowers southern sunlight. If you pro- 
cure your plants growing in pots from the greenhouse, keep them by 
themselves for a while, giving them special care, until you are sure 
that no insects lurk among, and that they may not drop their foliage 
through change of atmosphere. If your plants come by mail do not 
unpack until you can give them attention. Let them lie m tepid 
water while you prepare the pots. Nearly all florists direct us to 
place the plants in pots as small as possible, but, I think, m the dry 
air of the house, pots somewhat larger, with bits of charcoal, bone 
burnt or raw, and gravel for drainage, give better results. 

You do well to exercise care in the soil for the Rose. For me, 
a mixture composed of rich clay in much the largest proportion a 
little leaf-mold from the woods, aad soil from the grassy edge of a 
barnyard, the soil being very sandy, has proved best, though I have 
secured excellent growth from the latter alone, using larger pots m 
succession. Spread the roots naturally, sprinkle in the earth press- 
ing it firmly into place, shower, and set your plants, if possible, in 
an east kitchen window. Here steam and heat are more l.kely to 



40 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

accord with the treatment they have formerly received. Do not 
water again at the roots until dry, but sacrifice your window, giving 
the foliage, likewise the window, a fine, misty shower every after- 
noon until all is well. For this you may use a syringe or small 
whisk broom. 

If there is the least hesitancy in growth, or the leaves droop, 
wash daily with a soft brush or feather, rinsing it constantly, and 
never using the water for a healthy plant after one that is drooping. 
If any flower buds start, remove them immediately, and cut back 
the plant promptly to the buds that show quick and thrifty growth. 

After plants are growing where you wish them to bloom, they 
will need constant protection against the invasion of all enemies. 
I rid my plants of the aphis, etc., most effectually in the fall by 
destroying all the little flies that sport upon the window just at 
twilight, when the plants are first brought within. In fact, strict 
attention at an early stage of growth saves later a great deal of 
work in all directions. Yet be always vigilant, else the minute bud 
will disappear so quickly you will think yourself deceived, or the 
bud whose unfolding beauty you are ready to enjoy will turn to one 
side and refuse to open, while you may visit your disappointment 
upon the aphis, waxed corpulent at its base. Dipping the branches 
in weak tobacco water is an excellent preventive, but you may 
better enjoy the sweetness of your Roses by watchfulness. 

The red spider, with me, is somewhat annoying. Immersing 
plants in water when small, and showering them whan larger, will 
check the pest, or you may hold the plant firmly in position and 
rinse the tops in weak soap suds. I resort to my brush, washing 
stems most thoroughly, since by dislodging insects the new points 
of growth gain opportunity to start. You will find spiders most 
numerous at the back of the leaf at the base, and along the mid- 
vein, their webs being mostly upon the old growth and where over- 
hanging leaves have afforded shelter. As you look through your 
plant to the light, remove gently the seeming particles of dust upon 
the new growth, making sure they have no life. Pick and burn all 
yellow or fallen leaves. 

Against mildew, I find sufficient protection by rubbing flowers 
of sulphur upon the first leaf which shows infection, at the same 
time powdering plant and surface of the soil so lightly that it is 
scarcely discernible. With the plants free from insects, if there is 
not satisfactory growth, one would be warranted in suspecting 
worms in the soil. I receive most speedy improvement by soaking 



THE ROSE AS A HOUSE PLANT. 41 

the soil, draining or skimming off any animal life that may arise, 
then applying a thin coating of finely pulverized soot. Again, I 
thrust the phosporous ends of a few matches in the pots, and satu- 
rating the soil with lime water is excellent, seeming also to give a 
beautiful verdure to the foliage. A few drops of carbolic acid 
solution added in watering plants is freely and successfully used by 
some, but it needs caution. It surely kills the worms, and may be 
used in severe cases upon old Roses without injury, but if any of 
the strong particles touch new or fleshy growth it is immediately 
blighted. 

If you cannot shower your plants wnere they stand, remove 
them and shower them thoroughly as often as dry. The water 
from melted snow gives most thrifty results. Wipe off shelf and all 
surroundings with a damp cloth. 

If, like myself, you reside in the bleak Northwest, you must 
provide against chills and severe draughts, especially upon buds. 
Let all soaking and showering be done with tepid water and when 
you can insure mild temperature. There must be fresh air, of tem- 
perature not often above 70° in the day time, cooler at night ; but 
we, with our western winds, aud temperature that hovers too fre- 
quently around the minus forties, can only withdraw our treasures 
to a safe position, daring seldom to leave them near the glass at 
night. 

If you wish to keep a large specimen, as a Marechal Neil, and 
weight is an objection, place it in a tin dish with ample surface and 
thorough drainage. Like the Fuchsia, the Rose delights in tin, and 
you can cover, paint tidily, or with good taste decorate, and the 
beauty of your plant will silence criticism. Later you may provide 
a box upon castors. Usually one will gain more satisfaction from 
a greater variety in smaller pots. 

Roses incline to periodical blooming, with one longer season of 
rest each year. This longer season you may arrange at your pleas- 
ure, by denying free growth and blooming until you wish. Observ- 
ing in the garden you will note that they send forth most rapidly 
the shoots bearing flower buds after a rainy season. When the buds 
are well towards blooming and for a space of time lasting until 
after the flowers are cut, I do not urge them, but aft«rwards shower 
and add fertilizers. You may fertilize very freely at any time when 
there is thrifty growth, for the Rose is a luxuriant consumer of food. 
If you desire speedy succession of bloom, you must place your 
plants every day the same side to the light, especially if you have 



42 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

only an ordinary window. Sometimes, when all has "been done, a 
choice bud will refuse to expand. Keep all buds well washed-, and 
you may assist by breathing into them, by carefully manipulating, 
or, if the calyx adhere, gently separate it. 

The faint-hearted may count this care altogether ioo much 
trouble, yet a dozen Rose plants surrounded by most adverse cir- 
cumstances, with active, intelligent care, will not require over an 
average time of five minutes each day ; and if thus we can secure 
abundant bloom, how much more easily may it be done under 
favorable conditions. 

As to the second division of my subject, individual taste has 
such variety that it is difficult to suggest. My own has so fully 
satisfied expectations that I incline to advise from it. Consult the 
descriptions of reliable Rose growers, comparing and choosing no 
novelties, unless you desire to experiment. You may rely upon the 
old, "profuse bloomers," Safrano, Bon Silene, Hermosa, Madame 
Margottin, Madame Rachel, etc. 

Experience often differs in respect to varieties, for the reason, 
perhaps, that plants rooted from cuttings sometimes possess diverse 
tendencies ; as one shoot from Perle des Jardins gives us the new 
Sunset, and, as one may often observe in a bush of two branches, 
where there is a constant recurrence of bloom upon one and little 
or none on the other. It is better not to expect as many flowers 
upon the choicer varieties as upon the old Sanguinea, though, possi- 
bly, some varieties may bloom as freely. 

La France is sure of favor ; Catharine Mermet and Perle des 
Jardins are beautiful in bloom, and their attractive foliage is a source 
of constant pleasure. The Marechal Neil secures to me its favor 
by its fragrance, which is unsurpassed. 

A few of the most free blooming varieties in pots plunged in 
the open border will supply steady bloom from June until December, 
when they may be removed to the cellar. This season, an unusually 
trying one in the northwest, a Bourbon Queen, which bloomed 
freely the latter half of summer in a five-inch pot, gave no oppor- 
tunity for removal except at expense of bud or blossom. La France, 
which bloomed sparingly late in the fall, was reset into a seven-inch 
pot, and it came into active growth and showed its flower buds the 
first of January. All buds, in this latitude, increase in size very 
slowly during December, but the approaching sun speeds them 
swiftly into bloom. 

Read and study. The catalogues of florists are very valuable, 



THE ROSE AS A HOUSE PLANT. 43 

as you may readily discover if you give them consideration. All 
real flower lovers are generous of their knowledge and experience. 
Choose in accordance with your taste and surroundings, or, if you 
cannot decide, state them to the florist from whom you buy, and he 
will select wisely for you. Few pleasures are so cheaply bought as 
the enjoyment of these plants, which have been brought through all 
the tedious stages of their first growth. 

If I were so unfortunate as to fail in blooming my Roses in 
winter, I should bed out my plants in the spring, layering branches 
for new growth, studying their habits more closely that I might 
provide more suitable conditions, meanwhile enjoying the flowers 
Dame Nature would be sure to bring. 

I know no plant so sensitive' to sympathetic treatment as the 
Rose, so quick to resent an injury, and yet so tenacious of life, 
€ven when reduced to the merest stalk, and so ready to forgive and 
send forth its blossoms with the first attentions. Intimate acquaint- 
ance will enable you to discern the drooping that indicates its poor 
health as readily as pallor in the face of a friend. How far will 
power may influence vegetation it may not be well to theorize, but 
I am sure that if you truly love Roses, you and your household may 
revel in their sweetness. 



THE ROSE AS A HOUSE PLANT. 

How can the Rose be managed as a house plant, and what 
varieties are most suitable for that purpose ? 

The only Roses that are likely to succeed when grown in 
the window garden, are a few varieties, and those belong to the 
Tea, Bourbon and Bengal classes. And to have them do well 
in the winter it will be necessary to commence preparations early 
in the spring, in order to have strong and healthy plants fur- 
nished with an abundance of healthy working roots, for the Rose 
is rather impatient when grown as a window plant ; but a great 
deal will depend upon the treatment the plants receive. 

Having procured the young plants early in the spring, they 
should be potted into three- inch pots, and placed in a warm and 
sunny situation. Water should be given when required and air on 
all favorable occasions. About the middle of May the plants 
should be repotted into four-inch pots and plunged to the rim of 
the pot in any sunny place in the open ground. After the plants 
are plunged they should be well mulched with coarse stable manure, 
and watered whenever necessary, and the very instant any flowers 
are noticed they should be removed. The pots should be turned 
at least once a week, in order to prevent the plants from rooting^ 
outside the jDots to their manifest injury. This treatment should be 
continued up to the first of September, when the plants should be 
taken up and carefully examined, shifted into larger pots, if neces- 
sary, trimmed into shape, and placed in any sheltered situation until 
they are brought inside, which should be done before cold weather 
sets in, if they are intended for early blooming; while those 
intended for later bloom can be allowed to remain outside until 
the weather becomes cold, when they can be removed to a light, 
cool cellar, and afterwards be started into growth whenever it is 
deemed necessary to do so. ^ 

When brought inside they should be given a light, sunny place,, 
windows having a southern exposure being preferred, and an aver- 
age temperature of 50°. Water should be given as often as neces- 
sary, and two or three times a week liquid manure water. In 
watering, care must be taken not to render the ground cold and 
sodden, for water should never be permitted to remain around the 
roots for any length of time. 



THE ROSE AS A HOUSE PLANT. 



45 




A GROUP OF TEA ROSES. 



When grown inside, the Rose is veiy subject to the green fly 
and red spider, and I do not know of a more effectual remedy than 
Gishurst's compound applied according to the directions that 
accompany each box. This compound can be obtained at any seed 
store, and is the most effectual remedy in use for the window garden 
that I "know of. Or the green fly can be destroyed by a slight 
fumigation of tobacco, and the red spider by freely syringing the 
plants with soapy water. In the window garden mildew is apt to 
be rather troublesome ; this is caused by sudden changes in tem- 
perature as well as by damp, cloudy weather. For this, sulphur is 
an effectual remedy, and it can be applied by dipping the afi'ected 
plant in water and then dusting it with sulphur. 

The ensuing spring, as soon as the weather has become warm 
and settled, the plants should be turned out of their pots, and all 
the soil carefully removed from their roots. Then repot them in 



GARDEN ESSAYS. 

pots a size or two smaller, using fresh soil, and plunge and treat 
precisely as you did the year previously. About the first of Sep- 
tember the plants should be taken up and repotted into pots of a 
larger size and trimmed into shape, the old wood and the long, 
scraggy branches being cut back to within five or six eyes of the 
main stems, then water thoroughly, place in a warm, sunny place, 
and bring inside before cold weather sets in. This treatment can 
be continued as long as the plants continue to grow strong and 
healthy, and when they cease to do this either plant them out in the 
flower border, or else throw them away and supply their places by 
those that are fresh and vigorous. 

Roses require a rich, well mixed soil, the most suitable being 
composed of two-thirds well decayed sods from an old pasture, one- 
third well decayed stable manure with a fair sprinkling of bone dust ; 
mix these materials thoroughly, and use the compost rough. In 
potting, use porous or soft baked pots, and let them be proportionate 
to the size of the plant. Be certain to drain the pots well, and in 
potting place the plant in the center of the pot, and water thor- 
oughly to settle the plant. 

The following varieties are the most suitable for window garden 
cultivation : Twelve Teas — Saffrano, Bon Silene, Isabella Sprunt, 
Rubens, Odorata, Perle des Jardins, General Tartas, Yellow Tea, 
Madame Bravy, Madame de Vatry, Madame Lambard and Souvenir 
d' un Ami. Four Bengals — Queen's Scarlet, Douglas, Duchess 
of Edinburgh and Ducher. Four Bourbons — Hermosa, Queen of 
Bourbons, Qneen of Bedders and Edward de Desfosses. Besides 
these there is a class of recent introduction, known as the Polyantha 
Roses ; they are of dwarf habit and are continually in bloom, the 
flowers being produced in clusters, and although the individual 
flowers are not large are very perfect. Of these, the most desirable 
are Mignonette, rose. Mile. Cecile Brunner, salmon pink, Little 
White Pet, light pink, and Paquerette, pure white. Besides these 
we have the dwarf form of Rosa Indica, commonly called the Fairy 
Rose. It is a very pretty little miniature Rose, having double, rose- 
colored flowers, about the size of a dime. As it is constantly in 
bloom it is a plant that will always attract considerable attention, 
and is deserving of a place in every window garden. 



THE STRAWBERRY. 
To cultivate the Strawberry successfully for market it is first 
necessary, as in a logical argument, to establish correct premises, 
ZtTs t select a suitable location and soil and to thorough y 
ftrtili. and prepare the ground. In the selection of -ocat on 
Ling first, o? cou,.e, been satisfied that there rs a "--erafve 
marlcet within reach, and that pickers can be readdy ob.amed, get 
Td it you can, having both a northerly and southerly exposure 
Id oil suitable for the growth of the Strawberry. The best sod 
for the purpose is a deep, mellow loam which has sand enough m 
ts composUion to work freely ; the next best is clay, .f not too ff 
and with proper drainage facilities; the poorest is sandy land xvith 

a oravellv subsoil. , 

In obtaining a location with slopes, as recommended, try to have 
the soil of the portion sloping toward the south as warm and quick 
as possible, and while nature generally does much toward making 
vegetation on such slopes grow rapidly, assistance can be given by 
proper drainage, the use of such fertilizers as ashes -^S^aj, and 
deep, thorough culture. The object of having land with differ m 
exposures and difference in quickness of soil is to prolong the 
Strawberry season. Upon the southern ^'"P^; -''^ ™"'"'^^X 
be grown and ripened from one week to ten days before the ordi- 
„a^ crop in the vicinity will be ready for market. By reversing 
the process, and using the northern slope for late varieties, the 
plants will bear fruit after the main crop is gone, and the owner of 
I plantation so situated will avoid a glutted market and realize 
better prices than less fortunate or less skillful competitors in the 

same line. , . 

Land to be planted to Strawberries should have proper drain- 
age, so that water does not stand upon or near the surface, yet the 
slope should not be so great that the land will wash. If there is 
not sufficient natural drainage, and in all cases, if PO^^'M^;. ''7'" 
thoroughly with tile. The land should have been well cultivated 
with hoed crops for the two years next preceding Strawberry plan- 
ing, in order to rid the soil of the white grub and to assist in kill- 
ing out clover, blue grass and noxious weeds. Each year of such 

" prior cultivation work into the soil all the stable manure that can 
be obtained; if that is not to be had, apply any fertilizer within 



48 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

reach, giving preference to those rich in potash, and put on all you 
can buy, beg or carry away. 

In the fall after the second year's crop fertilize again, plow the 
ground deeply, if not underdrained, subsoil it and leave rough 
through the winter. In the spring following, as early as the ground 
is suitable to work, plow it again in a direction opposite to that 
traversed in the fall, using the subsoil plow in addition. After 
plowing, harrow thoroughly, making the soil fine. 

The ,proper time to plant is as early in the spring as possible, 
especially if the plants are purchased. Plants from a distance will 
carry better and grow more surely in the cool, moist weather of the 
early spring time, when they are nearly dormant, than after a rank 
growth of vegetation has been made to heat and decay on the 
journey later in the season. I think it a good plan to order plants 
to arrive as soon as the frost is enough out of the ground to heel 
them in when received ; then, upon arrival, to dig a shallow trench, 
laying the plants in singly, close, yet not crowding them, covering 
the roots with earth firmed carefully upon them. By so doing the 
plants are on hand when the ground is ready for them, they are 
fresh and keep so until favorable weather for planting allows them 
to be set. If you raise your own plants you can set them any 
favorable day, if you are careful, yet, as a rule, the earlier plants 
are set in the spring the better are the results. 

The ground having been prepared, stretch lines at proper dis- 
tances for the rows, have the plants ready, with roots straightened, 
and all dead leaves and runners removed ; keep the stock of plants 
for each day in tubs, with water covering the roots, and make each 
person, while setting, keep his or her plants in a pail with a like root 
protection, not taking out a plant until ready to place it in the 
ground. Arm the planters each with a garden scoop or trowel; 
station them one at a row, and keep them always on the same side 
of the line until the rows are finished. 

Set the plants thus : With a single blow drive the scoop into 
the ground to the depth of the blade and with the back of the blade 
toward the line; draw it forward enough to admit the plant's roots, 
thus leaving a straight side to. the cavity next the line. Spread the 
roots of each plant in fan shape, and place them next to the 
straight side of the hole, then pack the earth firmly to the plant, 
covermg all roots, yet leaving the crown exposed, and firm the 
plant m carefully. The important things to be observed are, keep- 
ing the plant roots wet while out of the ground, spreading them 



THE STRAWBERRIES. 49 

while setting, covering just right and carefully firming the earth 
around the plant. By making a direct stroke with the scoop and a 
straight side to the cavity for the plant the earth upon that side is 
left moist, and the roots being brought in contact with moisture 
grow readily even in a dry time. 

I prefer using lines in setting, to any other method of marking 
the location of the rows ; the plants set by line are upon a level 
with the surface, and not in a hollow to be covered with mud by 
the next rain, or upon a ridge to wither with succeeding drouth. 
Take pains in setting the plants ; upon care in this, much of future 
success depends. Do not be anxious to hasten this work, remember 
that one plant that lives is worth a thousand that perish. 

Growers of the Strawberry have several methods of culture from 
which to choose, and these methods may be classified and described 
as follows : 

First, Hill Culture. By this system plants are set eighteen inches 
apart in the row, in rows three feet distant, and all runners are kept 
off as they appear, the plants forming crowns instead of young 
plants. Very large berries are grown in this way, and they are 
easily picked, but it is an uncertain method in sections where the 
winters are excessively cold and the snowfall light, as the plants 
suffer and frequently winter kill. Some varieties, as Jucunda, 
Shai-pless and Bidwell seem particularly adapted to this method of 
culture on account of habits of growth. A modification of this 
method makes what is called the narrow row system, to grow thus : 
Set plants as in hill-culture, and instead of removing all runners 
allow one to remain and form a single plant in the row on each side 
of the parent plant, then remove all other runners from the new, 
and the old plants, as fast as they appear. 

Second, the Matted Row. This method is most used by growers 
of Strawberries for market ; by it plants are set from one to two 
feet apart in the row, and the rows are located from three and one- 
half to four feet apart, distances varying as the variety planted is 
feeble or vigorous in growth and in productiveness of plants. After 
setting, keep off the runners until the plants are well established, 
then let all grow. Keep the plants clean with hoe and cultivator 
until the young plants begin to take root, then suspend hoeing, 
but keep on cultivating as long as the season will permit, narrowing 
the cultivator as the plants spread, until at the end of the season 
the paths between the rows are about two feet in width. In culti- 
vating always go the same way of the rows, that is, if you run next 



50 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

the row at the right in the beginning, keep next the row on that 
side at each succeeding cultivation. Have all weeds that appear 
in the rows after the runner plants begin to take root pulled out by 
hand, and let the persons removing the weeds at the same time 
straighten the runners and distribute the young plants forming, sa 
that they will occupy the vacant spots, fixing them there with lumps 
of earth. The hand-weeding can be done by boys, very quickly 
and very cheaply, and is of great value to the plantation. The 
matted-row system can be modified to suit the wishes of the grower, 
so that the width of the rows or the number of plants will be 
increased or diminished, 

A third system, sometimes adopted in the west, may be called 
the Matted Hill method. By this the ground is marked both 
ways, as for. corn, three and one-half feet between the marks. 
Plants are set at the intersections, which are cultivated with a sulky 
corn-plow with guards on, until the runners are too numerous, then 
with a one horse cultivator to the end of season; all runners being 
allowed to grow and root. If the soil is not very weedy, fair crops- 
of berries may be grown in this way without any hoeing. 

In raising Strawberries by any method, have the rows twenty to 
twenty-five rods long, use horse-power as much as possible, keep 
clean, killing every weed as soon as it sprouts ; keep the soil 
mellow, cultivating whenever the weather and the condition of the 
ground will permit. It has been said that " tillage is manure," and 
your berries will do better without manure than without tillage. 
By this method of cultivating, the surface will be kept level, and 
no ridges or furrows will be left between the rows. 

In the fall, when freezing weather sets in, cover the plants two 
or three inches with wild hay, clean straw, sorghum bagasse, or any 
other coarse material that is free from weed seed, to prevent the 
plants from heaving. 

In the spring, after the ground stops freezing, remove most of the 
covering into the paths between the rows, leaving enough around the 
plants to keep the berries clean, yet not so much as to retard growth, 
and let the covering placed in the paths remain to mulch the plants. 
If there is prospect of a severe frost in blossoming time, get out 
all hands and work back a covering from the mulch in the paths, 
over the plants to shield them from the threatened danger. Unless 
early berries are desired, it is better to let the mulch remain upon 
the plants as long as possible in the spring, thus retarding blossom- 
ing and lessening danger from frost. 



THE STRAWBERRY. 51 

The great requisite of the Strawberry from the time it blooms 
until the berry matures is water; the mulch between the rows 
helps to keep the roots moist, but when the sun is like fire and the 
heavens as brass for about a week, the crop dwindles unless water 
is supplied. If you have no means of irrigation, try this plan : 
make a tank, water tight, the size of a wagon box, and a little 
deeper, sides and bottom of one and one-half inch boards. At 
the rear have a sprinkler attached, projecting one foot at each side 
beyond the wagon wheels ; sprinkler of galvanized iron, four inches 
in diameter. Having beforehand arranged an elevated tank at the 
windmill, or a pump and platform in the pond, or some other water 
supply, off with the wagon box and on with the sprinkler, harness 
up, load with water, and from five in the afternoon until dark, and 
from daylight until seven in the morning wet down the plants 
driving astride the rows and watering three rows at a time. The 
expense of this method of watering is small, and there is no ex- 
penditure that will yield a more profitable return. 

When the berry season arrives, keep close watch of the pickers ; 
have them pick clean, don't let them pull the berries off, make 
them pinch off the stems. Do not allow unripe fruit, leaves or culls 
to go into the baskets, and do not allow the pickers to kneel on the 
plants, or skip any row, and discharge those who are careless or 
disorderly. Have a supply of tickets printed, most for one quart, 
next for four or six quarts, as the size of the pickers' trays may be; 
then, for such a number of quarts as will come to one dollar, or 
some other convenient multiple of the price per quart paid for 
picking, and give tickets for every quart of fruit as it is brought in. 

Use clean, attractive packages; if for long shipment splint 
baskets are preferable, for a home market the veneer boxes answer 
very well. Always send good fruit to market, a little care in 
picking and handling will enhance values. 

After the picking season is over, mow the plantation with a 
scythe, top-dress it liberally with well-rotted manure ; with a twelve 
or foui-teen inch stirring plow having a rolling coulter, throw 
two furrows together between the rows of plants, leaving the 
rows six or eight inches wide, then harrow thoroughly both ways, 
leave the plants until after a rain, and then hoe them out clean, and 
cultivate between the rows the rest of the season, letting all runners 
grow. 

When the ground freezes, top-dress the rows with coarse manure, 
and the second crop will be nearly as good as the first. 



52 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

After the «econd crop is picked, plow up the whole plantation 
and cultivate for two years before growing Strawberries on that plat 
of ground again. 

*The selection of varieties depends upon the character of the 
market ; if a large, high-flavored berry can be sold for a big price, 
grow Jucunda, Sharpless, Jersey Queen, and that class ; if quantity 
is desired, plant Crescent, James Vick, Miner and Manchester ; for 
a distant market you want firm berries, as the James Vick, Glendale 
and Wilson. 

Pistillate varieties, like Crescent and Manchester, must be 
fertilized by planting with them staminate kinds that bloom at the 
same time, and I prefer the proportion of two rows of staminates to 
four rows of pistillates, to any other tried by me. Buy plants of 
reliable nurserymen, who will furnish what you order, of good 
quality and properly packed, and be willing to pay a fair price for 
what you buy. 

And now, reader, having completed our journey together over 
the StraM'berry fields, I must say, farewell, and may that " Provi- 
dence that tempers the wind to the shorn lamb," favor you with 
gentle breezes and timely showers, that you may have Strawberries 
in abundance and wealth "galore;" such is my wish, for w^hatever 
counsel we take and experience we relate, yet much dependeth 
upon the weather. 



*NoTE.— No fruit is more affected by the soil where it is raised thati 
the Strawberry, consequently advice in regard to varieties must be con- 
sidered as related to their general qualities. A few varieties only have 
been found adapted to large areas of territory and very varied conditions. 
Two varieties which have stood this test better than most others are the 
Wilson and the Crescent. 

The suitableness of varieties for particular locations can be determined 
only by actual trial.— Editor. 



THE RASPBERRY FOR MARKET. 

Raspberries are among the most hardy and easily raised of small 
fruits. Land producing good crops of grain or roots will yield fair 
returns when planted with the Raspberry. Yet while this plant 
will endure imperfect soils and scanty culture much better than the 
Strawberry, the best results can only be had by thorough cultivation 
and high feeding. Raspberries consist of black, red and yellow 
varieties, and hereafter in this paper the word black will be used 
to designate one variety, and red for the other two, excepting when, 
named. No small fruit does better with partial shade than the 
Black Caps. For the last six years we have had good crops from 
the Doolittle in an orchard set in 1865, trees six to ten inches 
through. We raise two rows of berries between the rows of trees, 
and the Apples are only twenty-six feet apart each way. 

Plants of the black varieties are propagated from the tips of the 
canes ; the best plants being produced from those bushes first set 
the preceeding spring; all plants showing disease or weak growth 
should be rejected. The red varieties are propagated from suckers, 
■or, better still, from root cuttings in nursery rows, and should have 
their canes well ripened. 

The black varieties should be set only in spring, and as early 
as the condition of the ground will allow. Plants for setting ought 
not to be taken up till about the time they are needed, and should 
be kept fresh, avoiding exposure to sun and wind. The red varieties 
may be safely set late in fall, and in many cases will do better if 
planted then. If they should be set in the spring they should be 
moved early. When plants can be had on the same farm, or in the 
same town, both kinds may be successfully planted later in the 
spring when the new growth has become four to six inches high ; 
the method of transplanting being about like that for transplanting 
Tomatoes of that height. Setting green plants is often a conven- 
ience, although it involves more care, and is a much slower method. 

The black varieties may be planted in rows seven feet apart 
and the plants two and one-half to three and one-half feet apart in 
the rows ; and the red in rows six feet apart, with the plants from 
two and one-half to three and one-half feet apart in the rows. The 
red varieties are planted by eastern growers in rows running both 
ways, with the stools four to five feet apart. WHien planted three 



54 



GARDEN ESSAYS. 



feet by six feet, two thousand four hundred and twenty plants are 
required to an acre ; at three feet by six and one-half feet, twa 
thousand two hundred and thirty-three plants, and at three feet by- 
seven feet, two thousand and seventy-four plants. 

The first year's cultivation consists in keeping the ground clean 
by the use of the cultivator and the hoe. In the fall, when the tips- 
of the canes of the black varieties are ready, which can be told by 

their color and appear- 
ance, bury the ends 
two or three inches 
deep, going over the 
field twice for this 
purpose at an interval 
of a week or ten days. ■ 
Late in the fall apply 
one-half of a large 
fork-full of manure to 
each space between 
the plants; both the 
black and red varieties 
should be treated in 
this manner. The 
manure serves as a 
mulch for winter pro- 
tection of the roots, 
and is also an invalu- 
able fertilizer as dis- 
solved and washed 
down by rains and 
melting snow. 

The second year, as soon as the growth is two and one-half to 
three feet high, and not more, go through the field and pinch off 
the tips of all the canes. A week later go over again, nipping off 
all the tips overlooked, or those that were too small the first time. 
In the fall repeat the application of manure, as mentioned above. 
In the late fall remove all the old canes, but in places subject to 
deep snowfalls we advise letting the old canes of the black varieties 
remain till the following spring. 

' Picking and marketing are important operations. In cool 
weather pick once in three days, and when warm or rainy, each 
alternate day. Black Caps, if not allowed to get too ripe, will bear 




THE GREGG RASPBERRY. 



THE RASPBERRY FOR MARKET. 55 

shipping from fifty to one hundred and fifty miles. Most varieties 
of red Raspberries are not fit to ship more than fifty miles, and even 




THE CUTHBERT RASPBERRY. 

with the utmost caution losses in shipping red berries are almost 
unavoidable. The great bulk of the Raspberry crop is used by 
the canning factories. Two cents a quart is the standard price paid 



56 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

for picking, and boys and girls will average from twenty-five to fifty 
quarts in a day of ten houi's' work. 

Three varieties each, both of the red and black kinds, will be 
the least any grower for market should cultivate. Of the black, 
we advise the Souhegan for the first early, Tyler for second early, 
Doolittle and Ohio for medium, and Gregg for late ; of red, Hansell 
for the first early, Turner for the second early, Philadelphia and 
Reliance medium, and Cuthbert late. All the above have been 
fully tested, and are entirely safe to plant. *I know of no variety of 
the yellow or orange Raspberry being grown here for field cultiva- 
tion. Several years ago I tested Brinckle's Orange, but it was 
entirely too tender. Any variety raised by the acre must be hardy 
to be valuable. 

, The average crop of an acre of the Black Caps will range from 
fifteen hundred to three thousand quarts, and the average yield of 
the red varieties about the same. On our grounds a half acre 
planted on a piece fitted for a crop of Multiplier Onions, with the 
drills fifteen inches apart, and the Raspberry plants set in each 
fifth row, gave a first crop of about eight hundred quarts for the 
half acre; the second crop, of which an accurate account was kept, 
was, of berries marketed, a trifle over two thousand quarts, besides 
supply for family of six. The variety was the Doolittle. During 
this season, which was exceptionally cool and with frequent 
showers, fresh berries were picked for the table for four successive 
weeks. The season for marketing lasted three weeks. Last 
season, the price at the factory was eight cents a quart for Black 
Caps, and ten cents for red hemes. 



*The Golden Queen Raspberry is one of late introduction, but has now 
been well tested, and proves to be a fruit of great beaufy, large size and 
great productiveness and high quaulity. 

The Marlboro, a red variety appears to be specially valuable in certain 
locations, especially north. It is hardy and productive. Fruit large, bright 
crimson.— Editor. 



THE BLACKBERRY. 

Blackberry culture, like other kinds of business, requires a. 
good comprehensive knowledge of its requirements, as well as 
thoroughness, in order to make it a success. If you do not under- 
stand the business fully you must learn it before you can succeed. 
Do not begin it on too large a scafe, but begin moderately and 
work into it gradually, for you have to establish yourself in the 
business, not only as a producer, but as a marketer, and the latter, 
the dispos-ing of a crop profitably, is full as important as the produc- 
tion of it. By commencing moderately, you avoid expense by 
raising instead of buying most of your plants, while you are at the 
same time building up a market for your products and advertising 
your business, which are both absolutely essential. The nearer 
markets are usually the best, and one can often sell direct to the 
consumer, and thus form a mutual and constantly increasing 
acquaintance, better than to depend entirely upon the distant com- 
mission houses, and the consequent largely increased competition 
which necessarily crowd in upon the large city markets, while at 
tbe same time, if your local marTcet chances to be overstocked, you 
have the recourse to the other at any time for your surplus. Early 
fruit, as a general thing, pays best, and the next and even more 
essential requisite for success, is fine fruit, and put upon the market 
in the best and most attractive shape and condition. People will 
buy what suits their fancy in fruits as well as in other things, and 
the more attractive you can make its appearance the more salable 
and the better the price. Fine Apples, Peaches, Pears, Oranges, 
&c., are the fruits selected in the market, and you can make largely 
the same difference in the salability of smaller fruits . 

Location, which gives ready access to market, climate and soil 
are the first requirements. It will probably not pay to try to raise 
Blackberries for market in a climate severe enough to require pro- 
tection of the plants in winter, though you can select kinds which 
are more hardy than others and will succeed in a colder climate. 
The best soil is a good clay loam, comparatively new, or, at least, 
abundant in "humus," and well drained, and I think I can describe 
its requirements by saying such as will produce a fine crop of 
Potatoes. Old pasture or meadow land, well plowed in the fall, 
and, too, plowing in a pretty good growth of grass, instead of, as is 



58 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

frequently done, " pasturing it to death " before plowing, and the 
following spring planting it to Potatoes, with thorough cultivation 
of the growing crop, leaves the ground after digging the Potatoes 
in the fall, in the best possible condition for Blackberries ; and I 
think I cannot too deeply impress the importance of a proper 
preparation of the soil before setting the plants. If you have not 
the sod or pasture land I have described, other good land will do. 
Plow it in the fall and sow to Rye, and then, in the following 
- spring, when the Rye gets as tall as you can well cover, plow it 
under and harrow several times during summer, to keep down the 
weeds, without putting on any crop; then in the fall plow again 
and prepare thoroughly. 

Don't go into the business from sudden fancy or impulse, but 
consider well what you propose to do, and plan particularly how 
you are going to do it before you begin. The fall is the best tiriie 
to set the plants, as then they are ready for an early spring growth, 
and the roots will be growing and the plants becoming established 
before the frost is out, and the ground dry enough to work in the 
spring. If you have such ground, and in the condition I have 
described, it is preferable to land recently manured, and no manure 
need be applied until after the plants have borne, say two crops. 
In the absence of the clay loam I Jiave recommended, the next best 
is good gravelly soil, and the least suitable a sandy one. Prepare the 
ground in the best manner to a good depth before setting the plants, 
and mix the soil well, so that it be in fine condition, and loose, and 
dry, and never undertake to set plants in the mud, or when the 
ground is in other than good condition. 

The first plants must necessarily be bought, and buy only of 
good, reliable men, and get first class plants, true to name, and not 
mixed kinds, and be willing to pay a fair price for such. Good 
roots, well packed, are essential to success. The roots must be 
well protected, and in transportation and handling until finally set 
in the ground kept as much as possible from drying up. Have your 
ground all ready, except marking the rows, when your plants come, 
and then carefully heel them in near where you are to set them, 
covering the roots with fresh soil, so that if there is any delay in 
setting, the plants will not be suffering, and then you can take them 
out, a few at a time, keeping the roots shaded from the sunshine as 
much as possible while setting. Mark out your ground in furrows 
with a plow, in rows six or seven feet apart, and set the plants three 
and a half feet apart in the rows. If the kind set are moderate 



THE BLACKBERRY. 59 

growers, like the Wilsod's Early, make the rows six feet apart, and 
if they are rank growers, like the Lawton and Kittatinny, then 
seven feet apart. ^ 

I have found the most convenient way of distributing the 
plants in setting to be in a hand-cart, over which I put a cloth 
cover, somewhat similar to a covered wagon, and the cover raised 
high enough to permit the plants being handled beneath it, and 
thus kept in the shade until ready to be set, and if the weather is 
very drying they can be sprinkled thoroughly after being put in 
the cart for distribution. Then a good stout boy can run the cart 
along the rows and place the plants in position, while a man covers 
them with a hoe; set plants about the same depth that they grew, 
and make the hole large enough to allow the roots to be well 
straightened out, and tread the ground well around each plant with 
the feet. Do not spend time unnecessarily, but be sure that you 
bestow time and labor sufficient to make a good job of it, 
remembering that if any one is cheated by doing it carelessly, it 
always is yourself 

Each season, after setting, the grouud must have thorough 
culture. Do not think that because the plants are for fruit they can 
take care of themselves, but give them as good clean culture as you 
do your Corn and Potatoes, beginning early in the season, but 
refraining from cultivation after September, to allow the plants 
to ripen up well before winter. When the plants are about three 
feet high, go through the rows and nip off the tops of the shoots 
in order to cause them to throw out lateral branches, and thus 
become self-supporting, and as the canes will be of different 
growth several nippings during the latter part of the season 
will be necessary, including also a shortening of the lateral 
branches when they begin to droop, making them much like 
miniature trees. 

In each subsequent year, after the first, as soon as the plants 
have done bearing, cut out the old canes and remove them from 
the rows, as they will soon die any way, being of no further use, 
and if allowed to die on the plant, evidently hinder the growth of 
the new canes for the next year's bearing. Some claim that cuttmg 
them off and allowing them to remain till spring helps protect the 
plants during winter, and some recommend pntting them between 
the rows and tramping them under foot; but I consider this a 
slovenly way of doing, and that it is better to remove them from 
the patch at once, and bum them. 



6o GARDEN ESSAYS. 

If your ground is in such shape that you can do so, make long^ 
rows, so that in cultivating between the rows with a horse and 
cultivator you will be hindered less in turning. The plants will 
bear but little the first year, but the second year considerably, and 
the third year will come into full bearing, and if well cared for 
will be productive for ten years, provided, however, that the suckers 
are not allowed to grow too thickly, as all unnecessary canes must 
be mercilessly hoed up each year, in order to keep the rows in good 
condition, and the rows should be kept so as to mark the separate 
hills, and not allow them to form perfect hedge rows. 

Blackberry sprouts are easily killed out when not wanted, or, if 
becoming too thick, by hoeing or cutting them during a dry time in 
summer, just at or below the surface, without digging, as that breaks 
the roots and causes them to sprout more freely. These suckers 
may be allowed to grow, and may be taken up in the fall to extend 
your patch, or set a new one whenever you need more plants, and 
it is better to save and use them instead of buying, unless you wish 
to tiy new kinds, as you can transplant them without having them 
so long out of the ground. You can also increase your stock by 
root cuttings, which make still better plants, thongh it takes them a 
year longer to come into bearing. Spade along one side of a row 
of vigorous growing plants and take up the outside roots in the fall, 
and cut them in pieces about three inches long, and bury them 
below the reach of frost until spring. Then they should be taken 
up as early as the weather will permit and planted two inches apart 
in nursery rows, about three inches below the surface and covered 
up about five inches deep, making a little ridge over the row, which 
should be raked off at Corn planting time, and if kept well 
cultivated will make strong plants for setting in the fall. 

I have succeeded well, for some years past, with the Wilson's 
Early for early market, and Lawton and Kittatinny for late. Early 
fruit is the most profitable, the Wilson being marketed and all gone 
before the wild Blackberries ripen '. but in some seasons, when wild 
berries are plentiful, the late kinds bring a low price, but even then 
will pay, if by thorough cultivation you produce extra fine fruit. 

Tiy new sorts, sparingly until assured of their superiority and 
success. *The new kinds, such as Early Cluster, Stayman's Early, 



*0f the more recently introduced varieties of Blackberries, the Early 
Harvest, Early King, Wilson Junior, Minnewaski, and the Erie have 
proved to be good and desirable sorts, and are all being planted for market 
as well as for private use.— Editor. 



THE BLACKBERRY. 6l 

Stone's Hardy, etc., it is hoped will prove a valuable addition, but 
have not yet been tested sufficiently to determine with certainty 
but each grower should test them in a small way for himself, unless 
he finds them already a success in his own neighborhood. The 
Snyder Blackberry is very successful and bears a colder climate 
than most of the others. 

In marketing your fruit, if a market is already established, it is 
well to ascertain and be guided by the most successful growers 
engaged in the business, and thus profit by their experience, without 
risk by experiment. I have found the thirty-quart crates, with me, 
the most salable, picking directly into the quart boxes without 
re-handling, as every time they are handled over the appearance 
and keeping qualities of the fruit are injured. Pick only fine fruit 
for market, and give good measure, liberal dealing being always 
the most successful, in other words, always do as you would like to 
be done by, and be sure your packages are neat and clean, and in 
appearance good. If you have had no experience in this, and have 
not the opportunity to see what are already a success in the market 
carefully look over advertising lists, and send to one or more 
reliable jnanufacturers for samples of berry boxes and crates, and 
then judge for yourself. 

For the first year after your plants are set, you can profitably 
raise some rows of low-growing crops, such as Irish Potatoes, 
Sweet Potatoes or Beans between the rows, to help compensate for 
the necessary cultivation, but if that is done, it will be necessary to 
manure the soil after the first year, or your plants will suffer. I 
would most earnestly recommend, however, that every Blackberry 
grower also raise Strawberries and Raspberries. Then your 
Strawberries come into market first, and about a week after come 
the Raspben-ies, followed closely by the Blackberries, making it a 
continuous business during all the fore part of the season, and for 
the reason, too, that Strawberries can be planted in rows between 
the rows of Blackberries and help make the whole thing a success. 

I have only one more recommendation to make, and that is a 
dry house or evaporator, and if a saving of expense is necessary, 
you can make a home-made one, which will answer a good purpose 
with little expense, in the stiape of a small house with shallow 
drawers on the south side, and light slat bottoms, and so arranged 
that those nearest the fire can be exchanged and placed higher up 
when partly dried, and fresh berries put in their place, and heated 
by a stove underneath the drawers ; in this way, if the market for 



62 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

your fruit gets too low for profit, you can evaporate the remaindei: 
of your crop, and thus market the dried fruit at a profit. 

Before you undertake the growing of Blackberries, or, indeed, of 
any kind of fruit, become a subscriber to one or more reliable 
horticultural papers, and read them thoroughly; and also procure 
price lists from several good, reliable nurserymen, so you will be 
posted and not be at the mercy of traveling tree peddlers, who will 
be quite certain to visit you, asking enormous prices for stock often 
unreliable ; and as long as you are interested in the business, keep 
yourself well posted, and in all things, if you expect success, try to 
deserve it. 



APPLES. 

The culture of the Apple is an important branch of farm and 
garden production. Not only is there a large home demand, but 
there is so good a foreign demand that it has come to be an 
important article of export. With the short crop the past season 
(1884) some sixty thousand barrels have been exported, seventy per 
cent, from New York, thirteen per cent, from Boston, and seventeen 
per cent, from Montreal. In 1882 some three hundred thousand 
barrels were exported. Apples are too high at home to be profitably 
exported this season. Liverpool is the great receiving port for 
American Apples. Besides those exported in the gi'een state, 
many tons are exported in the form of canned or evaporated 
product. The evaporating and canning establishments greatly 
enhance the value of the poorer class of Apples, and prolong the 
season of Apples the year round. 

Most all soils are good for Apple trees if thoroughly drained, 
either naturally or by good underdrains. On naturally heavy 
lands we' would recommend setting the trees immediately over the 
drains, which should be laid at least three feet deep. The 
extending roots would be away, instead of toward the drain, and 
the tree itself would be in the best possible position for drainage. 
The ground between should be broken up deeply and thoroughly 
pulverized and manured. We are among those who believe in 
applying barn-yard manure, ground bone, ashes and compost 
liberally to all lands in Apple trees, and well working the fertilizers 
into the soil. We believe in mulching with any available material, 
even small stones or Spruce or Fir boughs, if nothing better is at 
hand, and a circle about the trunk of the tree whose circumference 
shall be beyond the outmost ends of the limbs. We believe in 
keeping the land among growing trees cultivated in some hoed 
crop, like Corn, Potatoes, Beans, roots, Peas or pickles, and in an 
annual manuring. After the trees have begun to bear well the 
land may be lightly stocked down to grass, and calves, sheep or 
swine pastured in the orchard to advantage. The mulching should 
be continued until the trees pretty much shade the ground. To 
prevent injury to the trees from the stock by oiling the trunks from 
the fleece or gnawing the bark with the teeth, drive a row of stakes 
inside a hogshead hoop or large cask hoop laid on the ground, 



64 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

with the tree in the center, then raise the hoop to the top of the 
stakes and nail each stake to the hoop. Brush piled up about the 
trunk is better than no protection. The animals keep down most 
of the grass and weeds and use up the wind-falls, immature and 
wormy fruit. 

Much extent of trees may be grown along roadsides and 
pei-manent fences. The fence affords a partial mulch and trees do 
particularly well beside a stone wall. They are practically out of 
the way of the plow, harrow, mower, rake and other farm machinery. 
They may be set near together, one rod apart will do very well. 
On most farms enough orcharding may be had for all practical 
purposes by setting lines of trees by roadsides and permanent fences. 
It is not only practical, but adds beauty to the outlines and helps 
the landscape. There are also lots of natural orchard lands as yet 
unutilized, such as rough hillsides, nooks, corners, coves, gulches 
and rocky waste places. Nature, in fitting these natural sites for 
Apple trees, has spoiled them for most other purposes. Strong, 
vigorous volunteers on many of these attest the natural adaption. 
On these rough or waste lands trees may be set irregularly, and in 
most promising chances and places. They may be set thicker than 
on more arable lands. We believe that the best interests of our 
farmers and of our agriculture imperatively calls for the developing 
of these natural orchard lands. 

If we were setting trees on good, arable land, we would set 
them in long rows, quite thickly in the row, with wide spaces- 
between the rows, thus : 



X :K ife ;H 9e J€ 96 95 $€ 35 9^ ?€ ^ 



Why ? Because this plan would admit of free cultivation or 
operation between the rows. It would admit of a continuous mulch 
along the rows, and admit free circulation air and sunlight, two 
important things, and of easy access to and among them with team. 
We would have them twelve to twenty feet apart in the row, and 
the rows to be four to six rods asunder. 



APPLES. 65 

Another plan is the " matted row," to borrow an expression 
from the Strawberry growers : 

^ X ^ X ^ ^ 

^ :^ ^ ^ -^ 



^ Mi ^ Mi ^ ^ 

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

We should very much prefer one of these ways to either the 
square or quincunx form. It is very difficult to work among trees 
set in the usual way without injury to them from team or implements, 
or both. 

Eternal vigilance is said to be the price of fruit. The 
caterpillar, canker worm, fall web-worm, borer, codlin moth head 
the list of many formidable insect enemies. The bark louse, and 
Apple maggot, Trypeta pomanella, a new comer, by the way, that 
burrows and permeates the pulp in all directions, itself, when 
grown, hardly the sixteenth of an inch long, are to be met and 
fought. The whale oil soap, and knife and wire, and many other 
appliances are needed in the fight for fruit. The novice must study 
his business, and the experienced have need to practice all they 
know. But what branch of farm production is exempt from insect 
enemies or climatic conditions ? 

The key of the whole position is fertilization. Feed the trees 
and they will pay you. The better trees are fed and cared for the 
faster they grow and the sooner they bear. The faster they are 
pushed the sooner the investment pays ; the less time the caterpillar 
and the borer has to work upon them. As a rule, the orchards are 
not half fed. The Apples of the United States might be improved 
as a whole one hundred per cent., both in quality and amount from 
the present bearing trees by manuring alone. This is a fact that 
cannot be gone behind successfully. We believe in working an 
orchard or a fruit tree for all it is worth, for all it has capacity. 

Near cities and ready markets the best summer and fall varieties 
will pay well ; but for the great bulk of the crop of the country it 
is wisdom to grow those best hardy varieties that are hard in flesh, 
long keepers, and at the same time well colored and pleasing to 
the eye. Quality is to be sought for, and our best winter and spring 



66 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

Apples will give, on the whole, the most satisfactory returns. In 
planting a new orchard be careful to select varieties best adapted 
to the particular locality, and this information should be gained 
from the most trustworthy sources. Raise only fine varieties. Pack 
them honestly. Carefully hand-pick them from the tree. Keep 
them, until sold, in a moderately damp cellar, but a few degrees 
above the freezing point. Have the cellar fairly ventilated. "Wash 
out and dry each barrel before putting Apples in for the market. 
Reputation for good, honest Apples once established and followed 
up, means sometimes one dollar a barrel over questionable lots. 
** Honesty is the best policy," said the old man to his son, " I have 
ti-ied both." Set none but first-class trees ; set good sized trees; 
set them carefully. Use plenty bone and ashes about them. Study 
the vaiieties best adapted to the locality. Feed liberally, care for 
them sensibly, and success will crown the work. 



GRAPE-VINES. 

Planting and management of Grape-vines in the family garden. 

For Eastern, Middle or Western States success in Grape culture, 
either in the field or garden, will depend upon the following points : 
ist, Soil and location; 2d, Preparation of the ground and planting; 
3d, Pruning and training; 4th, Winter protection; 5th, Varieties. 

ist, Soil and location. As it regards chemical composition, 
the Grape succeeds on a wide range. Thin, rocky slate, deep 
porous gravel, hard tenacious clay, all, though not equally well, 
bear fairly good crops. The gravel usually excels in quantity, the 
slate and clay in quality. In one respect the vine is exacting. 
The soil must be dry and well drained. The location should be 
sunny, warm and airy. Localities having a breeze from off bodies 
of water are good. W^arm hillsides, when terraced, are admirable. 
If near buildings, choose* the south or east sides, but do not train 
on to a building, but to a trellis a few feet off, as there is a better 
circulation of air. > 

2d. Preparation of the ground and planting. Most garden 
soils are rich enough for vines. Plant in the spring, and plant 
deep. Make a broad open place, not less than fifteen inches deep, 
and in porous soils go down from twenty to twenty-two inches. 
Cover the roots with surface soil, not letting any fresh manure come 
in contact, and do not, at first, fill the hole for the vine over half 
full. Select vines as graded first-class one year, or first-class two 
years, and, if possible, choose only those having many fibrous roots. 
Before planting cut back the roots to twelve or fifteen inches, and 
the top to six inches. After six or eight inches of soil has been put 
on the roots, a covering of unrotted manure will serve as a mulch 
and later as a fertilizer. Broken bones are excellent put near the 
roots in planting, and after the vine is old enough to bear pour 
around the roots the soap suds from the kitchen. Avoid an excess 
of animal manures, using ashes, leached and unleached, bone dust 
or mineral fertilizers. 

3d. Pruning and training. To attempt to grow Grapes, even 
in the garden, without learning enough of the habit of the vine to 
give some form of pruning, is simply folly. If in the most favored 
regions on the most natural Grape soil, vines untrimmed speedily 
come to disease and ruin, how much more will this be true where 



68 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

success is less easily secured. The limits of this article will not 
allow a full description of methods of pruning, but I shall present a 
few elementary principles. The fruit of any one season comes from 
buds on the canes of the previous year's growth. This growth of 
last season is the new wood, and all former growth is known as the 
old wood. New wood is known by its smooth, firm bark, the bark 
on all old wood being scaly or loose on the outer part. Vines 
eight feet apart each way are pruned so as to leave not more than 
five nor less than two canes of new wood for bearing, each cane 
two and one-half to three feet long. The first two seasons are 
given to growing new wood only, the first crop of fruit being borne 
the third season, and the foregoing is applicable to the seasons 
following the third. Two canes are enough for the first crop of 
fruit. As to methods of training, we give several, taking the 
simplest first. 

a. Stakes. Each vine requires two stakes set two feet apart, 
the vine midway between, the stakes five feet above ground, and 
two feet or more deep, so as to be perfectly firm, the canes being 
firmly tacked to the stakes, crossing from one to the other. 

b. Post and trellis. This method of training is to be preferred 
to stakes. Plant the vines eight feet apart in a perfectly straight 
line. "When only two vines are grown, a good plan is as follows : 
Set a post seven feet long and two and one-half feet deep ; two feet 
from this plant a vine, four feet from the vine set another post, four 
feet from this another vine, two feet from this the third post. To 
the posts firmly nail three slats, each sixteen feet long by four 
inches wide, putting one slat at the top of the posts, one eighteen 
inches from the ground and the third between the others. When 
three or more vines are planted in each row use wire No. 9 or 10, 
instead of slats, firmly bracing the end posts, and if the posts are 
set firmly they will do if only set between each alternate vine. A 
very simple summer house may be made by setting posts at each 
angle of an octagon, each side of which is eight feet, and plant the 
vines midway between the posts. Vines should never be trained 
immediately upon the side of a dwelling house or other building, 
but upon a trellis standing four to six feet from it. The fruit will 
be much better and the vine can be far more easily managed. 
Vines can easily be trained to form an admirable screen, which, 
with proper annual pruning, will be for a life-time a thing of beauty 
and a source of profit. 

4th. Winter protection. All tender varieties, such as Rogers' 



GRAPE-VINES. 69 

"hybrids and many others, should have, after the leaves have fallen, 
the canes taken off the trellis and laid upon the ground, covering 
from one to three inches with soil. This affords a perfectly simple, 
safe and sure protection, and must not be omitted. Uncover in the 
spring after the ground will do to work, and not before. 

5th. Varieties. For first early, select Moore's Early and 
Hartford; the Tallman or Champion is of too poor quality. For' 
second early, plant Concord, Worden, Wilder (Rogers' No. 4), 
Telegraph of the black sorts; Brighton, Lindley (Rogers' No. 9), 
and Delaware of the red Grapes ; Martha, and your choice from 
Dutchess, Pocklington, *Prentiss, of the white varieties. Very 
nearly all these are strictly hardy Grapes, and all have an established 
reputation. There are several non-enumerated later Grapes, but 
for the garden we advise to tiy the first earliest sorts. If these 
succeed in all seasons it is easy to add to the list. 



*NoTE.— Since the above was written, further trial has shown that the 
Prentiss is not a variety that can be relied upon for general cultivation— it, 
perhaps, may do well in some localities and with special treatment, but it 
is apparently lacking in vigor, and its foliage is not very resistant to mildew. 

The Jessica is an excellent, very early, greenish Grape suitable for the 
garden, and the Diamond, which ripens a little later and about the time of 
The Delaware, is the handsomest and best of all the white varieties. The 
Winchell is a very promising white variety, suitable for the garden.— 
£ditor. 



MUSHROOM GROWING. 

It has often been a matter of surprise to me that the Mushroom 
is not raised more generally and extensively in this country than it 
is. I know there are a few places where it is grown for market, 
and made very profitable, but these places are not one-twentieth 
part as numerous as they ought to be. I know of no good reason 
why the Mushroom should not be grown in large quantities and 
with a large profit on the capital invested, in the vicinity of any 
large town or city. I think that the main reason why it is not 
cultivated more extensively is that most people have an idea that 
there are certain mysterious and intricate processes to be gone 
through which are too deep and difficult for the comprehension of 
common mortals ; now, the sooner this idea is dispelled, the better 
for all concerned. And I will here make the assertion that there 
is no more difhculty in growing Mushrooms in large quantities, for 
market, than there is in growing Potatoes, or any other vegetables, 
that is, if the directions I am about to give are adhered to. 

Mushroom growing on a large scale cannot very well be carried 
on at a long distance from a large town or city, because fresh horse 
manure, which is one of the principal materials, can only be had 
in quantity where a large number of horses are kept. The most 
suitable place, if the rent is not too high, would be a cellar or 
basement under a public hall, or manufacturing establishment; if 
this cannot be had, any building where a temperature of from 45° 
to 60° can be maintained during winter will answer the purpose. 
I am supposing that the person who is about to start intends to make 
a business of it, so I will give directions for fitting up the space in 
a permanent manner. The most convenient width for the beds, 
when there is a walk on each side, is six feet, and as long as the 
house will allow ; a building thirty feet wide would give room for 
three beds, each six feet wide, with a walk three feet wide between 
and around them ; and to economize space, two beds may be made, 
one above the other, arranged in the following manner: take good, 
sound, three by four scantling, in lengths to reach from the floor to 
the joists; nail these upright, in straight rows, six feet apart, and 
four feet between the uprights in the rows ; next, take pine boards, 
one inch thick, place these edgewise on the floor, and nail to the 
uprights ; this gives a bed six feet wide and twelve inches deep on 



MUSHROOM GROWING. 71 

the floor; next, take good, sound boards one inch thick, and six 
feet long, and nail these edgewise on the uprights, with the upper 
edcres four feet from the floor; on these lay one inch boards close 
to-ether, to form a floor for the upper bed, and nail these boards 
down to the cross pieces. Then take boards twelve inches wide 
and one inch thick, and nail them edgewise to the upright, to form 
sides for the upper beds, and then you will have your beds ready 
for the material in which the Mushrooms are to be grown. 




AGARICUS CAMPESTRIS. 

The material to fill in the beds is from droppings ; take fresh 
horse droppings from the stables, in as large a quantity as can be 
procured, to which add an equal weight of fresh loam from a pasture 
field ; old soil that has been worked or manured must not, on any 
account, be used. Let the loam and droppings be well mixed 
together from day to day as they are received, or, if enough can be 
procured at one time, all the better. Place the heap in some out- 
building, where it cannot get the least wet. If it is not all 
procured at once, turn the heap over every day, to prevent too 
violent heating, until enough is on hand to fill the bed, or beds. 
■ Now, all is ready for filling the beds, which should be done as 
follows: take from the heap of manure and soil prepared as above 



72 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

•directed, enough to form a thin layer over the bottom of the bed or 
beds ; pound this down quite firmly with a mallet or square block 
of wood, then another layer beaten down like the first, and this 
must be repeated until you have a depth of eight inches, neither 
more nor less; if it is deeper than eight inches, it sometimes reaches 
too high a degree of fennentation, but less than eight inches is not 
quite enough. Having done this, plunge a thermometer into the bed, 
which, in about two days, will heat enough to run the mercury up 
to more than ioo° Fahrenheit; wait until this goes down to about 
90°, then take a sharp stick and make holes in the bed about a foot 
apart each way, and about half as deep as the bed ; into each of 
these holes put a piece of spawn about an inch and a half square, 
cover the holes up again so that the surface of the bed will be level 
and firm as it was before the spawn was put in. 

Nothing is now to be done for about twelve days, when the 
spawn will have " run " through the whole bed. Next, spread 
over the whole surface of the bed a layer two inches thick of fine, 
fresh loam, pressed down moderately firm and quite level, cover 
the bed with about four inches of nice, clean hay or straw ; now 
there is nothing to do but to keep a proper degree of heat, which 
should be as near 60° as possible all the time ; but it must on no 
account be allowed to go below 45° at any time, or else the beds 
will get cold too soon, and the crop be too late to be profitable. If 
the air of the house or cellar is not very dry, no water will be 
required; but the beds must be examined occasionally, and if the 
surface is dry, give a light watering from a fine rose watering-pot, 
with the water heated to about 100°. 

With the above treatment commencing in November, the first 
crop will be ready in Januaiy. -The Mushrooms don't all come up 
at once, so the gathering of the crop will last about three weeks. 
After the first crop is all gathered, spread about half an inch of 
fresh loam over the bed, beat down firm and level, and gently 
water with warm water when it becomes dry, and cover up as 
before, with hay or straw, and another crop, frequently better than 
the first, will be gathered in February. Mushroom spawn of good 
quality can be obtained from any good seedsman. It is imported 
frequently in order to be fresh. 



^GROWING MUSHROOMS. 

Mr. John G. Gardner, of Jobstown, (about a dozen miles 
from Trenton, N. J., I should think), grows Mushrooms largely 
and successfully, and all for market. It isn't a matter of experiment 
and fancy with him at all, but one of profit — his bread and butter 
depend upon it. He grows them in frames inside his cool 
greenhouses, also in a large, frost-proof cellar under a hay barn. 
Now this cellar is simply an ordinary cellar, such as any farmer in 
the country has, and the little that has been done to it to darken 
the windows and make them tight so as to render them better for 
Mushrooms, any farmer with a hand-saw, an axe, a hammer and a 
few nails and some boards can do. Mr. Gardner is a market 
gardener aud has not the amount of fresh manure upon his own 
place that he needs for Mushroom growing, but he buys it in New 
York and thence gets it shipped to him by rail. And this pays. 
Now, if it will pay a man to get manure at such a cost for 
Mushroom growing, how much more will Mushroom growing pay 
the farmer who has the cellar and the manure as well? Mr. 
Gardner raises Mushrooms and lots of them, and any one who is 
interested in this direction can go right to see for himself. I was 
there on November 28th, and saw them, a capital crop, and Mr. 
Gardner, instead of trying to hide anything in their cultivation 
from me, took particular pains to show and explain everything 
about his way of growing them. He assures me that by the old 
complicated and troublesome way of preparing the manure and 
"fixing" for the crop, he couldn't make any money by growing 
Mushrooms, but by the simple means he now practices he gets good 
crops, good Mushrooms, good prices and good profits. As the 
cellar method is the most available one for farmers, this is the one 
I will describe in detail : 

The cellar is sixty feet long, twenty-four feet wide and nine feet 
high from floor to ceiling. The floor is an earthen one, but perfetly 
dry. It is well supplied with window ventilators and doors, and 
in the ceiling, in the middle of the cellar, opens a tall shaft or 
chimney-like ventilator that passes straight up through the roof 
above. While the beds are being made full ventilaton by doors, 



*NoTE. — This article was contributed to the Rural New Yorker i 



74 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

windows and shaft is given, but as soon as there is any sign of the 
Mushrooms appearing all ventilators, except the shaft in the middle, 
are shut up closely and thenceforward kept shut. 

The manure used in forming the beds is common horse stable 
manure and is brought here from Jersey City, over seventy miles 
on railroad cars. 

The soil used for mixing with the manure and for surfacing the 
beds is ordinary vegetable-garden loam. 

The bed occupies the whole surface of the cellar floor and was 
all made up on one day. As a pathway a single row of boards is 
laid on the top of the bed, running lengthwise along the middle of 
the cellar from the door to the farther end, and here and there 
between this narrow path and the walls on either side, a few^ pieces 
ot slate are laid down on the bed to step on when gathering the 
Mushrooms, 

Making the bed. Now here comes the oddest thing about Mr. 
Gardner's Mushroom-growing. He doesn't prepare the manure in 
any way whatever for the Mushroom beds. He hauls it right from 
the cars to the cellar and at once spreads it upon the floor and 
packs it solid into a bed. For the bed now in bearing the manure 
arrived at Jobstown on September 8th, and it was hauled home and 
the bed made up the same day, and the first Mushrooms were 
gathered from this bed the second week in November, just in two 
months from the time the manure left the Jersey City or New York 
city stables. The bed is fifteen inches thick. In making it the 
manure was first shaken up loosely to admit of its being more 
evenly spread than if pitched out in heavy forkfuls, and it was then 
tramped down firmly with the feet. The bed was then marked off 
into halves. On one half (No. i) a little over a three inch deep 
layer of loam was at once laid over the manure ; on the other half 
(No. 2) no loam was put on. at this time, but the manure on the 
surface of the bed — about three inches deep — was forked over 
loosely. Twelve days after having been put in, the temperature of 
the bed No. 2, three inches deep, was 90°, and then it was spawned 
on the 28th. Next day the soil from bed No. i was thrown over 
on to bed No. 2, which was spawned on the 24th, and then part 
of the soil that was thrown on No. i was thrown back again on 
No. 2, so that now a coating of loam one and a half inches deep 
covered the whole surface of the bed. When finished, the surface 
was tamped gently with a tamper whose face is a piece of pine 
plank sixteen inches long by twelve inches wide. Mr. G. does not 



GROWING MUSHROOMS. 75 

beKeve in the alleged advantages of a hard packed sm-face on the 
Mushroom bed, but is inclined to favor a moderately firm one. 

Spawn. He uses the English brick spawn which is sold by all 
of our seedsmen. He has tried making his own spawn, but owing 
to not having proper means of trying it, he has met with indifferent 
success. 

Spawning the beds. Almost all Mushroom growers insert the 
pieces of spawn about two or three inches under the surface of the 
manure, one piece at a time, aud at regular intervals of eight or 
nine inches apart each way — lengthwise and crosswise. But here 
again Mr, G. displays his individuality. He breaks up the spawn 
in the usual way, in pieces one or two inches square. Of course, 
in breaking it up there is a good deal of fine stuff besides the 
lumps. And now with a diamond-pointed hoe he draws drills 
eighteen inches apart and two and a half to three inches deep 
lengthwise along the bed, and in the rows he sows the spawn as if 
he were solving Peach stones or Walnuts or Snap Beans, and cover 
it in as if it were seeds. 

Air and temperature. Mr. G. regards 57° as the most suitable for 
Mushroom growing, and if possible, he maintains this without the 
aid of .fire-heat. He has hot-water pipes connected with the 
contiguous greenhouse heating arrangement in his cellar, but he 
never uses them for heating the Mushroom cellar except when 
obliged to. By mulching his bed with straw he could get along 
"without any fire-heat, but then this wonld be very awkward when 
gathering the Mushrooms. 

Top dressing. After the bed has borne a little while, Mr. G. 
assured me he finds that top dressing it all over with a half inch 
deep layer of fine soil is very beneficial to it. Before using, this 
soil had been kept in a close place — pit, frame, shed, or large box 
— in which there was at the same time a lot of steaming-hot manure 
so that it might become thoroughly charged with Mushroom food 
absorbed from the steam from the fennenting material. 

Watering. Should any portion of the bed get very diy, water 
it gently and somewhat sparingly, with water at a temperature 
of about 90° through a fine-rosed water-pot or syringe. Never give 
enough water at a time to penetrate to the manure and the spawn 
below the coating of earth. But rather than make a practice of 
watering the beds Mr. G. finds it is much better to maintain a moist 
atmosphere by — when needed — sprinkling the walls and ceiling 
with tepid water from a syringe. 



76 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

Food and moisture. And here is an idea of Mr. Gardner's 
own, which I never before saw in practice in the same way. He 
firmly believes that the Mushrooms derive much nourishment from 
the "steam" of fermenting fresh horse manure, and by using this 
" steam " in our Mushroom houses we can maintain an atmosphere 
almost moist enough to be able to dispense with the use of the 
syringe, and the Mushrooms are fatter and heavier for it. And he 
practices what he preaches. In one end of his Mushroom house 
he has a very large, deep, open box half filled with steaming-hot 
horse droppings, and once or twice a day he tosses these over with 
a dung fork in order to raise a "steam," which it certainly does. 
It is also for this purpose that he introduces the loam so soon when 
making the beds, so that it may become charged with food that 
would otherwise become dissipated in the atmosphere. 

Varieties of Mushrooms. Of course there is a marked difference 
between the Mushrooms raised from the French flake spawn and 
those from the English brick spawn ; but he has never observed any 
distinct varieties from the same kind of spawn. Sometimes a few 
Mushrooms will appear that are somewhat differently formed from 
those of the general crop, but this he regards as the result of 
cultural conditions rather than of true varietal differences. 

The duration of a bed. His bed began bearing early in 
November and he expects it will continue to bear a good crop till 
the first of May next ; after that time no matter what the crop may 
be, the Mushrooms become so infested with maggots as to be 
perfectly worthless and they may at once be cleared out. It is on 
account of the large body of manure in the bed and the low, 
genial and equable temperature of the cellar that the beds in this 
house always continue so long in good cropping condition. 

Gathering and marketing. Some years ago the Mushrooms 
were not gathered till their heads had opened out flat, but nowadays 
the market men don't want them that way; they like to get them 
when they are quite young and before the frill between the cap 
and stem has broken apart. A good market is found in 
Philadelphia, New York and Boston. The Mushrooms are 
shipped by express in twelve pound baskets. A layer two deep is 
laid in the bottom of the basket, then some paper, then another 
layer. All Mushrooms whose caps are broken are rejected, and 
those whose frill has burst are laid on the top layer. Baskets are far 
more carefully handled by expressmen than are boxes and they cost, 
very little. The supply has never been neai'ly equal to the demand. 



ASPARAGUS. 

The first thing to be done by one who wishes to grow Asparagus 
for market, is to see if he has any soil that is suitable. It should 
be a light loam and as deep as it is possible to obtain. Asparagus 
will grow on almost any soil, but I do not think that its cultivation 
will prove profitable on a heavy clay soil, rior where a stiff clay 
subsoil comes up within a few inches of the surface. It can be 
made profitable on very light sand by the use of plenty of manure. 

The next thing is to arrange for a supply of plants. These can 
either be pnrchased from some nurseryman, or can be grown from 
the seed on one's own land. Dry Asparagus seed when sown in 
the open ground, is very slow to germinate, and it is difficult to 
prevent the weeds from taking possession of the ground before the 
Asparagus plants appear. My own plan has been to soak the seed 
in hot water until swollen and softened before sowing. It should 
be sown in long rows a foot or more apart, so as to be tended with 
a hand or horse cultivator. If a few Radish or Cabbage seeds are 
sown v/kh the Asparagus they will come up at once and show 
where the rows are, so that they can be cultivated before tke 
Asparagus appears. Some growers, after soaking the seed, put it 
into a coarse bag and bury it deep in the ground until it begins to 
sprout, and then when sown it comes up immediately. Whichever 
plan you adopt, be sure and keep the plants clear of weeds through 
the season. As you are growing the plants for your own use, you 
will want them to be as large and strong as possible, therefore sow 
plenty of seed, and then when weeding them, thin out the plants to 
about three inches apart. To make good plants the soil mnst be 
very rich, so do not be stingy with your manure. 

During the season, while your plants are growing, you should 
prepare the permanent bed. It is not necessary, as was formerly 
supposed, to dig out all the earth to the depth of two or three feet 
and then fill in the bottom with all manner of trash and fertilizing 
materia], such as old boots, bones, etc. The land must be deeply 
plowed and thoroughly pulverized. It cannot be made too rich; 
with the possible exception of Rhubarb, Asparagus is the most gross 
feeder of any vegetable in cultivation. A successful market 
gardener in Illlaois, writing some years ago, upon the raising of 
Asparagus for market, used the following language : " The profits 



78 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

are just in proportion to the amount of manure used, which should 
be more than most people think enough." This is strictly true. 
He also said, " Study economy in the processes of labor, using the 
horse instead of the hand, and the rake instead of the fingers, 
whenever possible, but be unsparing of manure." No better advice 
than this could possibly be given, and the grower may expect that 
his success will be exactly in proportion to the fidelity with which 
-he follows these directions. The kind of manure and its mechanical 
■condition when applied to an old bed are not material. Fresh 
stable manure may be used, no matter how coarse so long as it can 
be plowed under. But in preparing the ground for a new bed 
fine, well rotted manure is to be preferred. Asparagus always starts 
into growth very early in the season, and the bed should be plowed 
late in the fall that it may dry out and be ready to work as early as 
possible in the spring. 

The proper distance between the rows and between the plants 
in the rows is a matter of dispute. Years ago the rule was three 
feet between the rows, and from twelve to eighteen inches between 
the plants. This is universally conceded now to be too close, two 
by three or four feet, usually the last, is the closest planting allowed. 
Many set their plants four feet apart each way and cultivate the b^d 
both ways. The growers of the celebrated Oyster Bay Asparagus 
make their rows five or six feet apart and set the plants two or 
more feet apart in the rows. In planting, the crowns should be set 
at least three inches under ground, and in many places four or five 
inches would be better. 

The first season all that is necessary is to keep the bed clear of 
weeds and the surface mellow. In most parts of the north Mdnter 
protection is a great benefit. If there is no danger of injury to the 
plants from severe cold still a heavy mulch, put on before the ground 
freezes, will keep all, or nearly all, the frost out of the soil, so that 
the bed will start very much earlier in the spring. A thick coating 
.of fresh stable manure is the best possible mulch, and that is also 
an excellent way to apply manure. The coarsest of the litter 
should be raked off in the spring and the balance plowed under. 
This may be supplemented by the application of a few hundred 
pounds per acre of some good commercial fertilizer. Ground bone 
is one of the best. 

The question, whether salt is needed on an Asparagus bed, is 
by no means settled. While some claim that it is necessary and 
should be applied every year, others say that Asparagus does not 



ASPARAGUS. 79 

need salt any more than any other vegetable. Without undertaking 
to decide the question, it is certain that Asparagus is not injured by 
the application of sufficient salt to destroy almost all other vegetation 
near it. If not specially useful as a fertilizer, the free use of salt on 
an Asparagus bed is an advantage ; it has a tendency to prevent 
the growth of weeds, and by attracting moisture from the atmosphere 
helps to carry the bed safely through a drouth. Coarse or refuse 
salt may be applied eveiy spring, and enough can be used to make 
the surface of the soil look quite white. Old brine from pork 
or beef barrels may often be obtained without expense from 
butchers, but care should be used in applying it, for it is possible 
to kill Asparagus roots with brine, as I know from personal 
experience. 

In the spring run a cultivator along the top of each row two or 
three times and then harrow, that the soil over the plants may be 
very loose. Between the rows stir the soil often enough to keep it 
mellow and clear of weeds until the tops shade the ground. The 
second year a little Asparagus may be cut, but be very careful not 
to continue the cutting too long. The third year a little more may 
be used, but a full crop cannot be expected until the fourth year. 
It is a good plan each year, when you stop cutting, to apply at 
that time a liberal dressing of stable manure or fertilizer and 
cultivate it in ; the object of this is to insure a strong growth of 
tops and roots during the summer and fall, for the amount of the 
next crop depends upon the growth made this fall. In autumn, 
just before the seed balls are ripe enough to drop ofif easily, mow 
all the tops, haul them away and burn them ; otherwise the ripe 
seed falling upon the bed will grow there, and young Asparagus 
plants are very undesirable weeds anywhere and especially so in an 
Asparagus bed. 

Oyster Bay Asparagus is very popular in New York city ; it is 
all white, being cut eight or ten inches under ground as soon as the 
top shows itself above the surface. They make their rows five or 
six feet apart and set the crowns very deep under ground. Every 
spring they plow up the earth between the rows until it is very 
mellow, and then with plows and other tools specially contrived for 
the purpose, they ridge up the earth over the rows until the bed 
looks ver}' much as if it were intended for planting Sweet Potatoes, 
except that the ridges are broader and are not sharp but rounded 
off rather flat. Though this blanched Asparagus sells for a higher 
price in New York city, yet as it costs much more in time and 



So GARDEN ESSAYS. 

labor to grow and gather it, I doubt if it would generally prove any 
more profitable than that grown in the ordinary way. 

Asparagus should always be cut a little below the surface of 
the ground, if for no other reason than that the sharp stubs left may 
be out of the way. Asparagus knives are advertised which are 
quite broad and are sharpened across the end, and are intended to 
cut by shoving straight down against the stalks ; but this form and 
all common knives become dull so soon that it is necessary to carry 
a whetstone constantly, and to use it every few minutes. Some of 
the large growers on Long Island use a common heavy knife 
having a few teeth, like saw teeth, filed into the edge near the 
the point. Such a knife can be used for half a day without 
becoming too dull. 

The stalks must always be cut before the heads show any signs 
of breaking or branching out ; the lengths should range from six 
to ten inches. The size of the bunches must depend upon the 
market in which it is to be sold ; for New York city they should 
be four or five inches in diameter, about seven or eight inches in 
length, and should weigh from three to three and one-half pounds. 
To put up such large bunches in good shape requires the use of a 
bunching machine, which costs from three to four dollars. In 
western markets the size varies according to the taste of the growers. 
For Chicago market a good salable size is about three inches in 
diameter and from six to nine inches in length. Great pains should 
be taken to have the tops exactly even, and after the bunch is tied 
up the bottom should be cut off square, so that all the stalks will 
be exactly the same length. The bunches should be tied in two 
places, near the top and near the bottom. The tying material must 
be broad and soft, common twine will not do, as it cuts into the 
stalks too much. I have seen it tied with strips of white cotton 
cloth, having the name of the grower printed upon them, so that 
every bunch sold advertised his business. Bass bark is one of the 
best tying materials, and is probably most commonly used. 

If the crop is to be shipped to a distant market it is packed in 
crates with tight bottoms, but with slat sides and tops. The crate 
should be large enough to hold three or four dozen bunches, and 
just deep enough for one layer of bunches when standing upright. 
The Asparagus should be perfectly dry when put into the crate ; 
this is indispensible, otherwise it will surely heat and spoil, and it 
should be packed so snugly as to prevent shaking about in the 
crate, which would perhaps cause the tender tops to be broken off, 



ASPARAGUS. gj 

thus rendering the Asparagus unsalable. Shippers from Charleston 
• and other Southern ports often put a layer of perfectly dry moss 
over the bunches to protect the tops. When shipped a long 
distance, a layer of wet sand or moss in the bottom of the crate, on 
which to set the bunches, will help to keep them from wilting. 

The profits of growing Asparagus depends so much on soil 
manure, cultivation and market that it is difficult to fix on any 
reasonable average. The range is all way from $ioo to ^looo per 
acre ; the average is probably much nearer the first figure than the 
last. Usually, however, that is the fault of the grower. If he is 
stingy of manure and cultivation, he illustrates the old adage, -'He 
saves at the spigot and wastes at the bung-hole." 



PEAS. 

What varieties of Peas are most profitable for the market 
gardener, and what most desirable for the table, and what are best 
methods of cultivation in each case ? 

The Pea is a vegetable that can only be grown- to the greatest 
perfection in a comparatively low temperature, and therefore it 
should' be planted as early in the spring as the ground can be 
worked. 

The best and most profitable kinds for early market, I have 
found to be Blue Peter, Carter's First Crop, Bliss' American 
Wonder, Little Gem and Improved Daniel O'Rourke. 

To grow these varieties to the greatest perfection a warm, sunny 
soil is most suitable ; it must be thoroughly enriched with well- 
rotted manure, or bone dust applied at the rate of fifteen hundred 
pounds to the acre and well harrowed in. The next operation is 
marking out the rows, which for Carter's First Crop and Improved 
Daniel O'Rourke should be three inches deep and thirty inches 
apart. For Blue Peter, Little Gem and Bliss' American Wonder, 
the rows may be twenty-four inches apart. As soon as the Peas 
are out of the ground about two inches, hoe or cultivate between 
the rows, and repeat the operation at intervals of ten days for about 
four weeks, when a little soil may be drawn up to the rows on each 
side. This is all the working they require before gathering the 
crop. No sticks or brush need be used. Again, I would endeavor 
to impress the grower with the importance of sowing just as soon 
as the ground can be worked, as the first Peas in the market fetch 
by far the highest prices. About two and one-half bushels will 
sow an acre. 

Varieties of Peas for a family to grow for table, and mode of 
cultivation : 

The best kinds of Peas for use for a private family are Blue 
Peter, Waite's Caractacus and Laxton's Alpha for first crop; 
McLean's Advancer and Laxton's Prolific Long Pod for second 
early, and Champion of England and Telephone for later crop. 

The ground should be dug deep and well manured with 
thoroughly rotted manure, or bone dust spread on the surface, one 
pound to the square yard and well raked in. Sow in double rows 
about eight inches apart and four inches deep, and leave a space 



PEAS. 83 

of about thirty inches between each double row. A quart of early 
varieties will sow about seventy feet of drill, of the later kinds 
about fifty feet. 

To keep up a succession, sow as follows : April 1st, one quart 
of Blue Peter; April loth, one quart of Waite's Caractacus ; April 
20th, one quart of Laxton's Alpha; April 30th, one quart McLean's 
Advancer ; May loth, one quart Laxton's Prolific Long Pod ; May 
20th, one quart Champion of England; May 30th, one quart 
Telephone. After this date none may be sown until about the 
middle of August, when a quart or two of one of the early kinds 
may be sown for a late crop. 

Laxton's Alpha will require sticks about thirty inches high ; 
Champion of England, Telephone and Laxton's Prolific Long Pod 
will require sticks about four feet in height. 



Note.— New varieties of Peas are corning forward from year to year 
and occasionally a variety appears superior, or fills a place not occupied by 
any other, and one who would keep up with the times in Pea growing, as 
in other departments of the garden, should be a careful re?der of 
horticultural literature, and especially, know well what is offered new by 
enterprising seedsmen ; not, in fact, to test all new varieties, but to accept 
those which have been proved to be good by sufficient trial.— Editor. 



ONION CULTURE. 

It is absolutely essential to success in Onion culture that the 
ground should be rich. Almost any soil that is free from sticks 
and stones, can be made to raise good Onions if it is thoroughly 
drained and fertilized ; but the land that is right naturally is scarce. 

My Onion patch is black ground, something like Illinois soil, 
naturally well drained, gravelly subsoil, and one side, perhaps 
one-third of the piece, quite gravelly. It is here that I raise my 
largest and best Onions. The piece contains three-fourths of an 
acre. It has had about forty loads of w^ell-rotted manure each year 
for the last three years, it having been put on in the fall and plowed 
in, when possible to do so, immediately after the crop has been 
taken off. In addition to this, I have put about fifty bushels of 
unleached wood ashes on, each year, having spread it on the 
surface and harrowed it in just before seed sowing. I try to have 
the sowing done by the tenth of April at the latest. 

The manner of preparing the ground is as follows : Plow as 
shallow as possible and cover the manure all up, say five or six 
inches. Harrow with an Acme harrow, as it draws the straw, etc., 
down into the ground ; any harrow with the teeth slanting 
backwards is the best. After thoroughly harrowing, go over it 
with lump smasher or leveler, which is a plank concern, six feet 
square, put together like the clapboards of a house. It effectually 
pulverizes the surface, fills the horses' tracks, and leaves the ground 
level. Raking with a hand rake is expensive and it cannot be done 
so perfectly that the seeds, when sown with a Matthews' Drill, will 
not be unevenly covered. It may be necessary on some pieces to 
harrow and smooth several times. The ground must be very fine, 
and the firmer the better, if it is not actually hard. I can fit my 
Onion patch in this way in one day with a team. The variety I 
usually sow is the Yellow Globe Danvers. 

The next thing is the cultivation. As soon as the Onions are 
large enough so that I can see the rows, I start the cultivator. I 
sow thirteen inches apart; the knife on the cultivator, M^hich is a 
two wheeled one and works between or astride the rows, is eleven 
inches long, and this cuts within an inch of each row. I run the 
knife, which is two inches wide, just beneath the surface, and the 
ground is disturbed but very little ; however, every weed which has 



ONION CULTURE. 85 

sprouted is killed. Then I put on the little hoes, similar to those 
on Ruhlman's cultivator, set them an inch and a half apart, one on 
each side of the row, and go through them again. Then we get 
down on our hands and knees, or rather, elbows and knees, and 
weed them. I employ mostly men, as boys are usually not 
thorough enough. About three cultivatings and two weedings 
usually bring them through. 

We pull them either with a wooden rake or with the hands ; 
two men will pull a half acre in a day, if they are ripe. They 
should be allowed to lie three or four days in the sun after pulling, 
or until they are thoroughly dried ; if placed in barrels or in piles 
before becoming thoroughly dry, they sweat and spoil very rapidly. 
The cheapest way is to top them in the field, and let them lie a day 
or two before putting into baiTels or piles. This topping job is the 
most expensive part of it; it cost us about five cents a bushel to get 
the tops cut off, which should be done with a sharp knife, not with 
shears, as it detracts from the appearance of the Onions to have the 
top cut square off close down, and they are also more liable to rot. 

The marketing of the crop was not included in the subject of 
this essay, or I would try to tell how we pack them, etc. 

My first crop was about one hundred and fifty bushels on this 
same three-quarters of an acre ; second crop nearly two hundred 
and fifty bushels ; third, over three hundred, and this year we 
raised over four hundred bushels of merchantable Onions, besides 
about twenty bushels of the size Heintzel wants for pickles. The 
cause of the small ones was sowing a part of the patch too thickly. 
I find two and one-half pounds of good seed plenty for an acre, if 
it is all put in at an even depth, say from one-third to one-half an 
inch ; if sown too thickly they will never get pulled out as they 
should be, and it injures those i-emaining to take part out. 

The tools used m working the Onions should be so constructed 
as to draw the dirt from the plants rather than towards them, and 
in weeding it is well to be careful not to leave any more soil near 
them than enough to support them in an upright position. As much 
as possible of the weeding and cultivation should be done before 
they commence to form bulbs, yet if weeds are there it pays to 
take them out after they have commenced to bottom. 

Onions will not bear neglect and make a profitable crop. Plenty 
of manure, thorough fitting of the ground, good seed, and clean 
cultivation are the essentials to success in the cultivation of 
Onions. 



FIELD CULTURE OF ONIONS. 
The demand the past few years for Onions has caused no little 
thought and experiment with wide-awake gardeners how to 
successfully meet it, and no doubt many, as I have done, have 
resorted to different methods of planting, cultivating, weeding, etc., 
and the best kind of tools have been practiced with to keep down 
the weeds and to improve the crop. In some places at the north 
the Onion can be raised on new ground by sowing broadcast, but 
not with good success, as the weeds most always get the advantage 
of them and choke them out. I never tried broadcasting but 
once. 

My method is to select a rolling piece of ground, sloping to the 
south. The ground should be strong enough to raise a heavy crop 
of Corn ; it should be plowed in the fall, so as to be ready to sow 
early in the spring, which is one of the most important points. As 
soon as the ground will work well, or in March or the first of April, 
harrow the ground thoroughly and run over the ground crosswise 
with a float made of two inch Oak boards, one foot wide and as 
long as desired ; bolt three pieces together, lapping one on the other 
like clapboards, thus forming a most perfect clod-masher and 
leveler. Plant the seed in drills, not less than fourteen inches 
apart, and I prefer fifteen inches, and a half inch deep, using a 
reliable seed drill, and I can recommend the Matthews drill as the 
simplest and most perfect one in use. 

As the seed is a long time in germinating, and weeds and gi-ass 
are likely to get tlie start, the ground selected should be as free as 
possible from weed seed and kept clean. The Onion may be raised 
on the same ground several years with good results. After the tops 
appear an inch or so above the ground, start a careful man, not a 
boy, with the wheel hoe, passing twice in the row, shaving 
eveiything clean but the strip where the Onions stand. If the 
Ruhlman Wheel Hoe is used it will save the labor of at least six 
hands with the hand hoe. Many fail and give up at the hand 
weeding. This operation must be performed either with the fingers 
or with the small tools made for that purpose At this work boys, 
and girls, too, can be employed, and I would rather have one good 
girl than two boys, as the girls appear to realize the delicacy of the 
work, and set out at it more carefully. Every weed should be 



FIELD CULTURE OF ONIONS. 87 

pulled out, and the Onions thinned to two or three inches apart, 
and by doing this first weeding thoroughly the wheel hoe will 
nearly complete the cultivation, or at least till late in the season, so 
that one more hand weeding will be sufficient. 

After the last weeding, keep the wheel hoe running, going over 
the patch every week, and the motion of the hoe will cut out and 
cover up nearly all the weeds. By the use of good seed, good 
ground, good tools to cultivate, and a little patience, a field of 
Onions can be raised with as much certainty and success as any 
other crop. 




CULTIVATION OF ONIONS. 

In order to obtain a successful as well as profitable crop of 
Onions, certain requisitions must be complied with. They are 
these : 1st, new, choice seed of the veiy best quality should be 
obtained; 2d, a suitable soil should be selected, and the most 

suitable manure ob- 
tained ; 3d, the ground 
should be thoroughly 
prepared, and the seed 
properly sown, and last, 
but not least, the crop 
should be well cutivated 
and cared for. 

I knoM' of no veg- 

LARGE RED WETHERSFIELD. CtablC lu wMch thc 

quality of the seed has greater influence than the Onion, therefore, 
the greatest care should be taken to procure the very best, 
regardless of cost. Do not procure cheap Onion seed in any case, 
for most if not all of it is worthless, and will certainly prove to be 
very dear to the purchaser in the end. 

The most suitable soil, and one that should be selected, if 
possible, is a very rich sandy loam, one that has been heavily 
manured and well culti- 
vated for hoed crops for 
two or three years pre- 
viously is the best, and 
I would impress this 
fact upon all, that it is 
entirely useless to at- 
tempt to raise Onions 
on a poor or unsuitable 
soil. Care should also 
be exercised in the 
proper selection of the early red. 

manure used for the crop. Nothing is better than good stable 
manure well decayed, and finely pulverized, and if a liberal 
quantity of bone-dust can be mixed with it, so much the better. 
Commercial or concentrated fertilizers are much esteemed by some. 





CULTIVATION OF ONIONS. 89 

and have been used with very satisfactory results, but it is well to 
be very careful in their use. 

Suitable preparation of the soil is also of the greatest 
importance, and to accomplish it a considerable portion of the 
work should be done early in the autumn ; all the refuse of previous 

crops should be collected 
and removed, and the 
manure applied at the 
rate of thirty to forty two- 
horse loads to the acre, 
spreading it as evenly as 
possible. The manure can 
then be plowed in to a 
moderate depth, or about 
five or six inches, and 
YELLOW GLOBE DANVERs. thcu a good drcssiug of 

bone-dust, wood ashes, or superphosphate of lime, may be given and 
worked in with a cultivator in the opposite direction to which it 
was plowed, and the ground left in this rough condition. Early in 
the spring, as soon as the ground is dry enough, cultivate again, 
then harrow it in all directions so as to thoroughly pulverize the 
soil and to have it as fine as possible. 

The seed should be 
sown very early in the 
spring, just as soon as 
the ground can be pre- 
pared. Sow in drills 
from sixteen to eighteen 
inches apart, being very 
careful to have the rows 
straight, in order to 
facilitate cultivation. 
Use a good seed drill 
for sowing, one with a roller attached for covering, and have it 
properly regulated for sowing the seed to the desired thickness, and 
cover it about half an inch in depth, remembering that thin seeding 
produces the largest Onions. From four to five pounds of seed will 
be sufficient to sow an acre. As soon as the Onions can be seen 
the length of the row, they should be hoed, just skimming the 
ground between the rows, using a scuffle or push hoe; in about 
two weeks hoe again. After this they should be thinned out and 




WHITE GLOBE, 



90 , GARDEN ESSAYS. 

-weeded, being careful not to disturb those that remain. In about 
two weeks they should be hoed and weeded again, and repeat the 
operation as often as necessary until the plants cease to grow. 

As soon as the tops die down, the crop can be gathered, storing 
in a dry, cool, well ventilated room, spreading them out thinly at 
first, afterwards they can be placed more thickly, say four or five 
inches in depth. On the approach of cold weather close all 
windows and doors, and keep the temperature -just above the 
freezing point, but if they happen to freeze it will not injure them 
unless they are permitted to thaw and freeze again. When Onions 
are raised in quantity a very popular method of keeping them is to 
spread straw on a barn floor to a depth of eighteen inches, on this 
spread the Onions, and cover with two feet or more of straw; in 
this way they will keep until May. 

Of the many varieties the 
following are the best for field 
cultivation and market pur- 
poses : 

Large Red Wethersfield, 
of large size, very productive ; 
the best keeper, one of the 
most popular for general 
cultivation. 

WHITE ITALIAN TRIPOLI. Early Red, two weeks 

earlier than the above ; of medium size, very productive. 

Early Globe Danvers, of medium size, with a yellowish brown 
skin and white flesh and having a very mild flavor. 

Large Yellow, or Yellow Dutch, is a very popular market 
variety, having a white flesh and mild flavor. 

White Globe produces handsome globe-shaped bulbs of a very 
mild flavor. 

White Portugal, a large, flat, mild-flavored Onion, not one o 
the best keepers. 

For pickles, or set Onions, sow and treat as above advised, but 
do not thin them. Sow thickly, at the rate of forty pounds per 
acre; these little Onions, if planted in the spring, will form large 
Onions sooner than seed. 

The Potato Onion produces a quantity of young bulbs around 
the parent root. They should be planted early in spring, in rows 
eighteen inches apart, six inches apart in the rows and one in depth ; 
the large bulbs produce small ones, the small ones, large, alternately. 




CULTIVATION 'OF ONIONS. 91 

Top Set, or Button Onions, produce, instead of seed, a number 
of small Onions at the top of the stalk, which, if planted, will 
produce a large Onion much earlier than those from seed, the large 
Onion producing the top and the small top Onions the large ones. 
The little Onions are generally set out in the fall, in a manner 
similar to the Potato Onion, early enough to get a start before cold 
weather sets in. 

The new Italian Onions, of which there are several admirable 
varieties, have a mild flavor, and grow to a very large size, often 
weighing from one to three pounds. They do best when grown in 
the garden, and are not profitable as a field crop. Top sets. Potato 
Onions, and Onion sets are recommended for an early small crop 
for home use, or a near market. Grown as a field crop they seldom, 
if ever, prove to be a profitable one. 



RAISING ONIONS. 

Having been engaged in the business of Onion culture some 
twelve years, I think I can, perhaps, give some points in that line, 
which will be of interest. Onions can be raised on almost any 
kind of soil. The best is a black, sandy loam ; a fine, gravelly soil 
will produce good results ; a light yellow loam will answer for an 
early crop; and a wet, clayey soil will do well for a late one. A 
liberal coating of manure should be given the land. Stable manure, 
with the straw well shaken out, is the best; and next to that, 
manure from the hog-pen. Rock-weed spread on in the fall, is very 
good, though when it is used I would recommend a top-dressing 
of guano. Dry sea-weed, cross-plowed in, in the fall, also answers 
a good purpose. I would recommend deep plowing at all times, 
never less than ten or twelve inches. Harrow well both ways, then 
rake with wooden hand-rakes, such as are, used in haying, with the 
handles shortened, and the teeth shortened one and a half inches. 
The quantity of seed used should depend on the producing qualities 
of the soil. For a late crop on strong, healthy land, I should use 
six pounds per acre; on old land, well worn, eight pounds; for an 
early crop on new land, four to five pounds will be all that is 
necessary, and on old land six to eight pounds. 

All seed should be sown soon as the ground is in fit condition — 
that is when the ground is dry or mealy, not wet, soggy, or frozen. 
The time will vary according to locality, from the first of April to 
the first of May. After planting, if the land is light and dry, roll 
with a hand-roller. I think the use of the roller enables one to 
begin hoeing sooner, as the plants can be seen almost as soon as 
they start. The machine I use for planting is a local, one, which I 
have not yet seen in market. It plants two rows at a time, twelve 
inches apart, marks the third row, covers the seed and rolls the 
ground ; it is pushed by hand. One man can plant one and a half 
acres a day. I commence hoeing as soon as the Onions begin to 
show in the row, and hoe at least three or four times during the 
season. I use the hoe in preference to weeding, as the latter 
tramples ths ground so much, and wastes a great many Onions. 

Of the many kinds of Onion seed sown, I consider the Red 
Globe best, both in regard to productiveness, and keeping qualities. 
Next to that comes the Yellow Danvers. I have planted three 



RAISING ONIONS. 93 

kinds of red Onion seed at the same date, and they matured as 
follows: Early Cracker Red, August 5th to nth; Wethersfield 
Red, August 20th ; Red Globe, August 30th to September 6th. 

Potato Onions are easy to raise and bring a good return for the 
outlay. 

Philadelphia sets also do well, though it is rather more work to 
plant them than Potato Onions, as they are smaller. Small red sets 
from Early Red Onions ripen about a week earlier than the first 
ones from seed. 

One man can take care of about three acres of land, if he 
attends to his business. My brother and myself had seven acres of 
land on Long Island in 1861-2, which yielded three thousand, two 
hundred (3200) bushels of the best Onions I ever saw. 

For a second crop on land where early Onions are planted, I 
would recommend Carrots. I have had great success in that line. 
I planted Carrots at second hoeing of Onions, on the loth of May,, 
on three-fourths of an acre of land, measured by surveying. On 
this piece of ground I raised six hundred bushels of Onions, and 
the same year, on the same land, I raised five hundred bushels of 
Carrots, and took a premium on the crop at our Queens County- 
Fair. 

Begin to harvest the Onions when the tops grow yellow and 
fall. I pull by hand, never using a rake, as they cure better by 
being carefully handled. Put three rows in one, with the bottom 
outward ; let them remain in rows till the tops are thoroughly dried, 
or in a crackly condition, which will take from one to two weeks. 
If, however, they are wanted for shipment, top as soon as possible- 
after pulliug. Use a knife for topping, cutting about three inches 
from the Onion. The Onions must be thoroughly dried before 
housing for the winter. They keep well in bins made of slats, 
about five feet deep and four feet wide. Do not put more than one 
hundred and fifty to two hundred bushels in a bin, and put them 
all in the same day, as the addition of a second lot causes a second 
sweating, and induces decay. Keep as cool as possible, giving 
ventilation on every pleasant day, when it does not freeze outside. 
Freezing does not spoil them, however, if they are kept in that 
condition and not disturbed until spring. In conclusion, I would 
say that Onions, if strictly attended to, pay for the outlay better than 
Corn, Potatoes, or hay. 



CABBAGE. 

For growing the Cabbage to perfection a deep, rich, strong soil 
is necessary, especially for the later kinds, and the land ought, by 
all means, to be thoroughly drained. Good drainage, deep tillage 
and constant cultivation will ensure a heavy crop of Cabbage. 

Presuming, then, that the land has been drained, it should be 
deeply plowed in the fall, so as to allow the frost to disintegrate its 
particles, sweeten it and render its inorganic properties fit for 
plant food; by this means it will also be suitable to work at 

least a week earlier in the 
spring, as the frost will leave it 
quicker, and the superfluous 
water drain from it sooner. 
The next thing is to get good 
seed from true stocks. Good 
Cabbage seed is easily known 
by being plump, round, and of 
a dull, rich, purplish brown 
color. Old seed gets a whitish 
gray, and to obviate this the seed 
is sometimes oiled and run 
"true" JERSEY EARLY WAKEFIELD, through a mill, therefore, I 
would always be shy of shining, oily seeds ; but no reliable seedsman 
will send out seed that will not grow at least seventy-five per cent., 
which is a pretty good average for Brassica oleracea. Above all, 
get it true, as on this depends the success of next year's harvest ; 
avoid cheap samples. A good, true stock of any seed will always 
command a good price, as the seed-grower has to exercise a great 
deal of care and labor in cultivating, rearing, harvesting and 
cleaning ; good seed is always cheapest, whatever price it is. 

For an early crop, Early Wakefield, Henderson's Summer and 
Winningstadt will be found good, reliable market sorts, and may 
be sown out of doors in the south-eastern States in the middle of 
September, but in the eastern, western and northern will require 
the protection of a cold-frame. But I very much prefer sowing in 
a hot-bed in January or February, giving all the air possible, and 
transplanting into other frames as the weather moderates, as by this 
means there is a more continuous growth, and healthier plants are 




CABBAGE. 95 

obtained, which are less liable to run \o seed. As soon as the 
ground is workable in spring a liberal dressing, and a barrowful 
over, of well rotted farm-yard manure should be spread on the 
ground intended for early Cabbage, and at once plowed in. I do 
not think the practice a good one, though much in vogue, of putting 
the manure on the land during the winter, for the melting snow 
and the spring rains wash much of its most valuable properties into 
the drains, and when the plant comes to want these ver)' things, it 
finds them not, in fact, scarcely anything is left save the organic 
parts of what once was rich in minerals, salts and phosphates. Let 
the manure be carted straight from the heap and spread and plowed 
in at once, and the plant can draw from it all the season. After 
the plow, follow with a well weighted harrow, so as to thoroughly 

pulverize and mix the soil; 
do this thoroughly, as soil 
that is well worked in 
spring is much less liable 
to bake on the surface 
afterwards, and the sun 
and air permeate it to a 
much greater depth, and 
there is a more rapid and 
healthier growth, and as a 
natural sequence, earlier 
and finer Cabbage. 

The lines can be 
HENDERSON'S EARLY SUMMER. marked off two feet apart 

and the first dull or wet day the plants put out about eighteen 
inches apart, being about eight thousand to the acre, which ought 
to sell for from two to three hundred dollars. While the plants are 
growing, the cultivator should be run between the rows once every 
fourteen days, and the hoe between the plants as often as possible. 
Never let the weeds get more than an inch high, as a man can get 
over more ground then in one hour than he will in half a day a 
week or so later on. Early in June run the double share 
plow down the center of each row after the cultivator, and your 
early Cabbage will require very little more attention. 

Late Cabbages are generally sown out of doors, in April and 
May, but I am not an advocate of this practice, as the Turnip flea 
is very plentiful, and although a good enough number of seedlings 
may be nursed up by the aid of smoke and soot, yet they verj' 




96 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

seldom escape scot free. A much better plan is to sow in one of 
the frames that the early Cabbage were taken from, and cover with 
the sash or anything until such time as they attain their second leaf, 
when they may be dusted with soot, and the flea defied ; but sow 
very thinly so as to get short, stocky plants, and if they come up 
too thick thin out and transplant, and half an hour spent this way 
will be well repaid in the future well-being of the plants. 

The sorts I favor most are French Oxheart, Mammoth 
Marblehead, Excelsior Flat Dutch, Large Late Drumhead, 
Drumhead Savoy and Red Dutch. 

As fall Spinach and early Potatoes will be cleared away in June 
or July, the land they have occupied may receive a heavy dressing 

of manure and be plowed 
deeply, and then be 
broken down with a good 
harrow, and furrows run 
two or three inches deep, 
and three feet apart across 
the plat; take advantage 
of the first favorable day 
for planting, and set your 
plants at least two feet 
apart in the bottom of the 
furrow ; after this do not 
neglect the cultivator and 
PERFECTION DRUMHEAD SAVOY. hoc. Thc plants bclng 

in the bottom of the furrows get the advantage of the rainfall, 
which is only limited in July and August, and the hoe and 
cultivator gradually filling in the soil gives them a deeper roothold, 
and they are less liable to flag or get a check in growth in the hot, 
dry weather. Toward the middle of August they will be ready for 
earthing up, which can be done by the double share plow. 

As soon as the white butterfly, Pieris (Pontia) Brassicse, begins 
to make love over the Cabbages, take the first dewy morning and 
sprinkle all the plants liberally with wood ashes ; this will not only 
destroy the caterpillars but will also help the crop by supplying 
potash and bicarbonate of lime, and as often as the caterpillars 
are noticed at work take half an hour or so in the morning and 
go over the Cabbage plat with a box of wood ashes and give them 
a dose. In land deficient in lime the wireworm and white worm 
sometimes attack the roots, causing a collapse of the whole plant; 




CABBAGE. 97 

when this is noticed, lime water with a little flour of sulphur will 
exterminate them. Clubbing at the root very often proceeds from 
careless planting, doubling up the roots instead of making the hole 
large enough to admit of its going straight down, thereby causing 
a stoppage of sap, a consequent swelling or tumor which develops 
into what is called clubroot; therefore a little extra care in planting 
will veiy frequently obviate this evil altogether. 




EXCELSIOR LARGE FLAT DUTCH. 

The best mode I have found of storing Cabbage for winter and 
spring, is as follows : When it is deemed advisable to store the 
Cabbage, pull them up and turn their heads down for a day or so 
to drain all moisture from between the leaves, then remove all 
decayed and superfluous leaves, and put them three or five deep, roots 
inward, about one hundred in a pit or pile. Then cover with six or 
eight inches of soil, not less, for with a light covering they are too 
susceptible to atmospheric changes, and sudden thaws are very 
injurious to the well-being of the crop. When wanted for market 
a whole pit can be taken at once, hence my reason for 
recommending small pits; they keep better and are more 
manageable, for I have found when a pit is broken into and the 
air let in, the Cabbages never keep so well after. 



Note. — The only reliable substance for the destruction of the Cabbage 
caterpillar, Pieris Brassicae, is Pyrethrum powder, or the Insect 
Exterminator having Pyrethrum as one of its ingredients. The powder 
can be dusted on the plants quickly and cheaply by means of a bellows 
made for the purpose. — Editor. 



CELERY. 

I have always cultivated my own Celery, and what little I 
know about the matter has been learned by experimenting. I will 
try to tell, as simply as I can, what my experience has been. 

For the past seven years I have, for the benefit of my health 
and love for out-door work, been my own gardener, and have 
taken charge of both vegetable and flower gardens. I have not 
only taken charge of them, but have done the work myself. Until 
the past six years the cultivation of Celery has not been carried on 
extensively here. It was thought to be a very tedious and difficult 
operation, and the majority of people considered it too much work, 
besides a great many did not know how to treat it. Six years ago, 
I made up my mind I would make the trial and see what I could 
do at Celery raising. It was then too late to get seed and raise my 
own plants. I happened to remember an old English gardener 
who raised plants of all kinds to sell, and accordingly I called 
upon him, and inquired if he had any Celery plants for sale, and 
what variety they were. He said he had plenty of the Boston 
Market, which he considered the best variety grown. I asked 
him if he thought I could raise Celery. " Why, certainly," says 
he, "if you can raise other vegetables you can raise Celery." He 
sold me some plants and gave me some information concerning the 
treatment they should receive. I went home with my plants and 
had a trench prepared after the following manner : 

I had it dug about a foot deep ; I then put in equal parts of 
wood ashes, dressing from the hen-house, and rich, black soil, 
which I worked up well together with a hoe. Then I set the 
plants about six inches apart, packing the dirt firmly at the roots, 
after which I gave them a good sprinkling twice a day until they 
had taken root enough to be firm in their places. Then I kept the 
trench nearly filled with water. I could do this very easily, for my 
garden bordered on a pond where I could dip the water up by the 
pail-full, and use it as freely as I wished. I had heard some one 
say Celery was a water plant, so I gave it plenty, and found that 
it agreed with it splendidly. 

When the plants had made growth enough to cause the branches 
to lie over, I hilled them up a little, just enough to keep the stalks 
erect. I kept up the hilling process at intervals of about two weeks, 



CELERY. 99 

all summer ; always hilling when the weather was dry, and being 
careful to hold the stalks together with one hand to keep the soil 
from getting into the heart of the plants. As I wished to get some 
blanched early for our fair, which was to take place the fifteenth of 
September, I did the last hilling the first of September which gave 
it two weeks' time to bleach. 

The heads were very large and branching, as I believe is 
usually the case with Boston Market. The stalks were white and 
crisp, and upon the whole was considered very nice Celery, and 
far exceeded my expectations. I exhibited some at our fair and 
was awarded first premium. 

My second year's experience was as follows : Some of my 
friends suggested to me that Turner's Incomparable Dwarf was 
superior to Boston Market for the table. I concluded to get seeds 
of it and raise my own plants, and did so. Having no hot-bed, or 
any other proper convenience for raising the plants, I sowed the 
seeds in boxes and raised the plants in the house. Of course they 
did not have the same chance to grow that they would have had in 
a hot-bed, and had to be put out in the border when quite small. 
But they became good, stocky plants, and by the last of June were 
fit for trenching. I prepared the trench in the same manner 
as before, except, having no dressing from the hen-house, I used 
that from the blacksmith shop instead, which I think is far superior 
to the other, and the best fertilizer ever used among vegetables and 
plants, on account of having so much of the paring of the horses 
hoofs in it. I did not have water as handy as before, as we had 
removed to another place, and could not give the plants as much 
water as they needed, therefore did not get as large a growth, but 
the quality was good and the flavor was excellent. The flavor 
being better, I think, was owing to the variety. I exhibited some 
at the fair, in September, and was again awarded first premium, 
which made me think I was a captain at raising Celery. 

My third year's experience. This year I concluded to raise 
two varieties. I bought, with other vegetable seeds, one package 
each of Turner's Dwarf and Sealey's Leviathan. Having sickness 
in my family I could do nothing about gardening until ver}' late. 
The last of April I prepared a bed out of doors, on the south side 
of the house, in a sheltered situation, sowed the seed, and kept the 
bed moist by sprinkling it often. The seeds came up sooner than 
when I sowed them in the house. "^•The plants made a rapid 
growth, and were very strong and thrifty. I prepared the trenches 



loo GARDEN ESSAYS. 

the same as before, and set the plants right from the seed bed, 
where they had made such a fine growth that it was not necessary 
to transplant them out in the border. In trenching, this year, I put 
the plants about five inches apart, and kept the trenches well filled 
with water, as I was living, this year, where I had a well in my 
garden. I used to pump the water into tubs, let it stand until 
warm, and then fill the trenches. The hilling process was about 
the same, hilling at intervals of about two weeks uritil the first of 
September, then I banked it clear to the top, and by the twentieth 
of September I had the most beautiful Celery you ever saw. The 
heads were large, the stalks two and a half feet long, very solid and 
crisp, and as white and smooth as polished ivory. I exhibited 
some at the fair, and was again awarded the first premium. Of the 
two varieties raised this year, I think Turner's is superior to the 
other; Sealey's Leviathan grew larger, but Turner's was crisper 
and of better flavor. 

I think hilling at intervals all through the season to be an 
improvement for this reason : When the stalks are held together 
they shade each other, and almost the entire head will be crisp and 
fit for eating. Otherwise, if the stalks are allowed to sprawl about 
all summer, and hilled in the fall, there are many of the outside 
stalks that will be tough and never bleach enough to become fit 
for use. 

My method of Celeiy culture is this : 1st. Send where you will 
get good seed. 

2d. Prepare a seed bed out of doors in a sheltered situation. 
You will get your plants early enough by so doing, for they grow 
much faster and are much stronger than when grown in a hot-bed. 

3d. Sprinkle the bed often to keep it moist, and when the 
young plants are about three inches high transplant them into rows, 
putting them three inches apart in the rows, and the rows about 
one foot apart. 

4th. When the plants have become stocky, have a trench dug 
about one foot deep, put into it equal parts of wood-ashes and good 
rich dressing, and rich, black soil, and work altogether with a hoe. 

5th. Set the plants about five inches apart, and be sure to 
straighten out the roots and press the soil firmly about them. 

6th. Sprinkle them enough to keep them fresh until they are 
firm in their places, and then give them all the water you have a 
mind to, the more the better. 

7th. When they have made growth enough to cause the branches 



CELERY. loi 

, to lie over, hill up enough to hold the stalks erect. Continue the 
hilling process at intervals of two weeks all summer, being careful 
to do it when the weather is diy, and in the afternoon when the 
dew is off. Be sure, when hilling, to hold the stalks together, to 
prevent the soil from getting into the heart of the plants. 

8th. Such portion as you wish for early use bank to the top 
by the first of September ; for winter use bank to the top from the 
first to the middle of October. 

I think by following these instructions almost any one can raise 
Celery fit for a king, and when we get the varieties called White 
Plume and Chemin's introduced here, which need no banking, I 
think we can raise Celeiy fit for the queen. 



KEEPING CELERY IN WINTER. 

Hearing of so many failures in preserving Celeiy in winter, I 
am induced to give my experience in this matter. I used to put 
my Celery in trenches, as is more or less generally practiced ; the 
result was, I had lost half of it, or more, by rotting, especially if 
there 'had been much rain during the fall and winter, after the 
vegetable had been stored away. After many annual losses, as 
well as suffering the inconvenience of Celery stored in trenches, 
where, often, in severe weather, it is either impossible to remove it 
with safety, or it is done with the greatest difficulty, I thought of a 
-plan which has ever since proved successful in practice, and which 
I will now describe. I had a pit dug and prepared, which was 
•completed in almost as short a time as it usually required to dig 
trenches. 

The pit was made eight feet long, five feet wide and three feet 
deep. Two pieces of plank, each about ten feet long, were then 
placed along the sides of the pit at the ground line, and were let 
into the ground at each end, so that the upper edge of one was flush 
with the surface, while the other, on the opposite side, not being 
dropped so much, stood six inches above the surface of the ground. 
These planks formed the plates on which the roof rested, and one 
■of them being higher than the other, gave the roof a pitch, and 
which was six inches for five feet, enough to carry off the rain 
falling on so small a surface. Three posts, one at each end and 
one in the middle, were placed under each plank, as supports. A 
roof was made of inch boards doubled so as to batten the cracks. 



GARDEN ESSAYS. 



The entrance to the pit was gained by excavating a little in front 
of it and placing three or four steps in ; the front of the pit was 
boarded and supplied with a door, A frame was placed around 
the dug-way entrance to the pit and covered with a rough door, 
placed on without fastening, so that it might easily be thrown 
entirely off. In the 'fall the roof is supplied with a covering of 
leaves four or five inches in thickness, which remains on all winter, 
preventing the hardest frost from entering the enclosure. In the 
spring the leaves, are removed and both doors thrown open and 
the cave remains dry and airy during summer. This place was 
made several years since and still remains in good condition. 

Before the Celery is put in in the fall, the ground at the bottom 
is forked three or four inches deep. When the Celery is dug, all 
the suckers and straggling leaves are removed, and then it is ready 

to be placed in winter 
quarters. I commence 
at the back side of the 
pit and, with a trowel, 
open a trench about 
three or four inches 
deep, and in this place 
the heads of Celeiy in 
an upright position, 
packing them closely 
together. The next 
trench is made so there 
will be a little space between the rows. In this manner the whole 
stock is placed away. A pit of the size here described will hold 
about three hundred heads of Celery. 

The advantage of this place is that you can open it every day 
and procure your daily supply fresh and sound, and not have the 
Celery lying around in the cellar for a week at a time until all its 
freshness and flavor are gone, as is generally the case where it is 
placed in the trenches, since a trench cannot be opened every day. 
I can go in the dark and take Celery out of my pit. 

A pit of this style is never objectionable or offensive to the sight 
like a root-house, because it is made level with the surface of the 
ground and cannot be seen until one is close to it. It can be made 
in any corner, providing it is dry. Celery must be kept dry both 
above and at its roots ; yet a cool, moist atmosphere is indispensable 
for keeping it crisp and good. 




ENTRANCE TO CELERY PIT. 



ROOT CROPS. 

What root crops can be raised with profit for feeding cattle, 
and how ? 

Parsnips, Carrots, Turnips, both English and Swedish, and 
Beets can all be raised with more or less profit for feeding cattle. 
To do their best all require deep, rich, mellow soil. For Parsnips 
and Beets the ground should be well drained, either naturally or 
artificially. For Carrots, drainage is not so essential, excellent 
crops being often produced upon damp, undrained soils by late 
sowing, though always at some risk from superabundant moisture 
if the season be one of more than average rainfall. Turnips in 
variety being sown from June 1st to August 15th or later, when the 
weather is usually driest, and being least easily injured by wet of 
any of the root crops seem still more independant of drainage, 
though even they may have too much water. In all cases drainage 
benefits, not only by relieving the land of a superabundance, but by 
conserving a scanty supply of water. 

W£ will now consider the different species of root crops in the 
order named above, which may, in a rough way, be also regarded 
as the order of desirability, beginning with the least profitable, 
although all have some special points to recommend them. 

Parsnips should be sowed as early in spring as the earth will 
work reasonably dry and mellow. The ground should be plowed 
deeply, and if the subsoil is not of a friable texture it should be 
thoroughly loosened with a subsoil plow. On a small scale digging 
and trenching with the spade make excellent work, but wherever 
the size of the plat will permit, horse power is much the cheaper. 
When practicable, this preliminary preparation is best done during 
the previous fall, a liberal quantity of well-rotted manure being at 
the same time worked in. I consider the enriching and loosening 
the subsoil to the depth of eighteen to twenty-four inches, or more, 
quite essential to the best success, as the Parsnip roots will be 
found to taper more gradually, and, of course, be larger than if 
these operations be omitted. Some deep, gravelly loam soils, if 
sufficiently rich, may not require subsoiling, however, and it is 
upon them that Parsnip raising is most profitable. The ground 
being plowed, it is to be fined by harrowing, and leveled by 
planking, or, oh a small scale, by raking. 



I04 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

Eighteen to twenty-four inches apart is the proper distance for 
the rows, and seed may be sown quite thickly, say at the rate of 
five or six pounds to the acre. Since scarcely any seed deteriorates 
by age more quickly than that of the Parsnip, it should be, like 
Cesar's wife, above suspicion. I have sowed two and even 
three-year-old seed, carefully kept, but in no case with as good 
results as fresh seed. Germination is not the sole test. It may 
take place under favorable circumstances, and yet the resulting plant 
be deficient in vitality. As soon as the rows can be traced by the 
appearance above ground of an occasional plant, a careful man 
with wheel or other hoe may be set to work to destroy weeds. I 
have found it a good plan not to go over the whole ground in tnis 
way, but simply to outline every row by hoeing a strip a few inches 
wide on each side of it, leaving the central strips to be done by 
horse power. A "Bean cultivator," set narrow, with slim shanks 
and nearly horizontal blades, which do not disturb the earth much, 
is a good implement to use with a careful horse and driver, I 
weed the rows by hand after this cultivation, and thin with hoe 
and fingers to five or six inches apart in the row when the plants 
are two to four inches high. Nothing is gained by crowding the 
plants in either direction. To have good roots they must have 
lusty tops. On a small scale, where all the work must be done by 
hand, intermediate rows of Lettuce, Radish, or other crop to be 
removed early, may be sowed, but in what may be called field 
work these are inadmissible. After-cultivation consists in removing 
weeds and keeping the surface mellow, both easily done, as the 
leaves soon cover the ground well. 

Insect enemies are the Celery worm, Papilio asteria, which are 
not very numerous and for which hand picking is the remedy, and 
another larva whose name I have been unable to learn, which 
feeds upon the young seed of the Parsnip, spinning a web for 
protection. It seldom attacks Parsnips the first year unless 
neglected seed-bearing plants stand near. Paris green, or 
pyrethrum, applied to these would probably be effectual to prevent 
its invading the former. It never troubled me but once, and then 
to a slight extent only. 

In harvesting all root crops, the best plan is to cut off the tops 
before digging. The left hand gathers and grasps the leaves while 
the right hand, armed with a sharp knife, cuts them close to the 
crown, when they should be thrown in piles. Lively boys make 
rapid work of it. While upon the subject, I may add that the 



ROOT CROPS. 105. 

knife had better be dispensed with in topping Beets, a smart twist 
being sufficient for each one. As Parsnip roots grow wholly under 
ground, and good ones are eighteen inches to twenty-four long, 
harvesting them is not easy. The best way is to run a deep furrow 
close by the row, follow with the subsoil plow, if one has it, and do 
the rest with spade and hands, one man digging and another 
pulling. Parsnips dry rapidly when exposed to the air. If 
harvested in the fall they should be stored in sand for culinary 
use ; but for cattle they may be kept in pits in the open ground, or 
in an ordinary root cellar, not too dry, but care must be taken in 
all cases to prevent heating. Parsnips are often left in the ground 
all winter, being greatly improved in saccharine quality by frost. 
I have found Hollow Crown an excellent variety, but there are 
others equally good. Horses, cattle, sheep aud hogs are alike fond 
or Parsnips. For muscle, fat, milk, wool, and good condition 
generally, they are unsurpassed by any other root. The yield 
ranges from one hundred bushels of scraggy roots to six or eight 
hundred of fine, large, smooth ones, and the cost may range from 
thirty cents a bushel for the poor roots, down to ten cents, or less 
for the best. Choose ye ! 

Carrot seed, being rather slow of germination, I have had the 
best success by soaking it in scalding water. In fact, I pour upon 
it sufiicient boiling water to float imperfect seeds and other trash, 
which I immediately skim off and throw away. The water is 
then immediately drained from the perfect seed, which is dried for 
sowing by mixing with it loam or plaster. No danger need be 
apprehended of spoiling good seed in this way. If the ground is 
properly moist the young plants will make their appearance as soon 
as the weeds do, if not before, instead of being smothered at birth 
as they often are. Carrot seed should not be sowed in diy earth, 
except, possibly, when rain is imminent, and then it were better 
to wait until the rain be over. The same remark applies to other 
seeds pretty generally. Four pounds of seed as sold, if good, is 
ample for an acre. 

The preparation of th.e ground for Carrots should be as 
thorough as for Parsnips, Rent of land and cost of cultivation 
being the same, the profit in raising roots results in a judicious 
expenditure of manure and labor before the seed is sowed. But 
all gross, unfermented manures are objectionable unless applied to 
the soil a sufficient length of time in advance to become 
decomposed. In this connection it may be added that 



io6 GARDEN ESSAYS. 

superphosphate of lime is an excellent dressing for land intended 
for roots. Two hundred to six hundred pounds may be applied 
by sowing broadcast and harrowing in. 

The time of sowing Carrots, distance apart for the rows, distance 
in the rows and general cultivation are the same as for Parsnips. 
Carrots, however, are more impatient of neglect in the early stage 
than any other root crop. Until thoroughly established, weeds 
must not at any time be allowed to crowd them. Neither do the 
leaves cover the ground as well as those of Parsnips, and therefore 
weeds have a better chance to start throughout the season. A little 
attention to the removal of tall weeds well repays the careful 
cultivator. In thinning Parsnips and Carrots care must be taken 
to leave no two plants closer together than two inches, as in such a 
case the roots are apt to wind around each other and both be 
spoiled. The Celery worm is the only enemy of the Carrot here, 
and it is never very troublesome. 

Harvesting, which should be done before very severe frosts in 
the fall, is conducted as for Parsnips. The remarks made under 
the head of storing Parsnips apply to all root crops, and need not 
be repeated. 

The Belgian Carrots, white and orange, and the Altringham, 
all of which grow partly above ground, are extensively raised for 
stock-feeding; but although they have the decided advantage of 
being more easily harvested, and the doubtful one of producing a 
greater bulk, I prefer some of the shorter-growing, finer-fleshed 
varieties. Yields of a thousand bushels, and even more, are 
reported, but five hundred or six hundred bushels is probably the 
average. 

But, be it remembered by the reader, there is no use trying to 
raise Carrots with profit unless you have time and inclination to 
attend to them in season. 

One advantage the Turnip has over the roots already treated, 
is that the best time for sowing it is six to ten or twelve 
weeks later. Not only is the time from its seeding to its harvest 
shorter, but since much of its growth takes place late in the fall, 
when weeds are not so numerous nor so rampant, the l^bor of 
cultivation is, on the whole, much less. 

Between June 15th and July 4th, when a soakiug rain having 
fallen the previous night, the earth is too wet for cultivating Corn, 
and the weather is yet too unsettled to touch the hay, the farmer 
may turn to the piece of ground which was manured, plowed. 



ROOT CROPS. 107 

harrowed and set aside six weeks ago for Ruta Bagas. If not 
already rich enough, a dressing of well rotted manure should be 
spread upon the surface, the ground be then plowed again, 
harrowed and rolled or planked until thoroughly fine. The 
"planker" was originally a stone-boat, with smooth bottom, three 
feet wide by six feet long, but it is now improved by fastening the 
planks crosswise, lapping like clapboards on a house. Its width 
has also been extended until it is of square form. 

I have struck out the rows for Swedes on the level surface, but 
prefer ridges. The ridges cost some labor to make, and are, 
theoretically, at least, drier than the level ground. On the other 
hand, upon them a beating rain is not so apt to wash the earth 
over the young plants, and the Bean cultivator, or even the 
ordinary Corn cultivator, carefully handled, may be run between 
the rows while the plants are yet small, without outlining the rows 
previously, as recommended in cultivating Parsnips. I form the 
rows with the shovel plow, making them twenty-four to twenty- 
eight inches apart, the latter by preference. The top is smoothed 
with a garden rake and the seed drilled in at the rate of two pounds 
per acre. 

The advantage of pressing the earth into close contact with the 
seed cannot be too highly insisted upon. 

As soon as up, dust the Ruta Baga plants with air-slacked lime, 
plaster, soot, ashes, superphosphate, or road dust, to repel the flea. 
Later, the Cabbage plant-louse. Aphis brassicse, is sometimes 
troublesome. As it works principally on the lower side of the leaf 
it is pretty hard to get at it with any application. The best remedy 
is to keep the plants growing rapidly by thorough cultivation. The 
Cabbage worm, Pieris rapae, is another enemy, but owing to the 
spreading leaves of the Turnip it does but Httle damage. Still 
another enemy is the Radish maggot, which works in the root. It 
is much less troublesome upon new or fresh ground than upon old 
garden soil. 

When three or four inches high- and past danger from* the flea, 
thin the plants to ten or twelve inches apart in the row. It is not 
profitable to raise Ruta Bagas on land upon which they must be 
left closer than nine or ten inches, at least. No set rule can be 
given as to the number of times to hoe or weed any root crop. 
The surface must be kept mellow and fi-ee from weeds; that is all. 

The yield of Ruta Bagas runs from four hundred to one 
thousand bushels per acre. All farm animals are fond of, or can 




io8 , GARDEN ESSAYS. 

be taught to like Ruta Bagas. The only objection to them is that 
they impart a peculiar taste to milk and butter, but this can be easily 
avoided by feeding the cows immediately after milking. 

"White or English Turnips may be sowed from July 15th to 
September ist. The value of the White Turnip is principally as a 
catch-crop on land otherwise good, but too wet for an earlier crop; 
also, on land from which an early crop of Potatoes, Peas, etc., has 
been removed. In either case it is well to plow the ground, 
harrow, roll, and harrow again a week or two before sowing, 
leaving it somewhat rough until a good shower of rain falls, after 
which it should be stirred with a cultivator and fined as thoroughly 
as may be. If the seed be drilled in, the rows may be twenty to 
twenty-four inches apart, the plants to stand, after thinning, six to 
ten inches apart. Two pounds of seed may be sown to the acre ; 
less might answer, but it is well to err on the safe side. White 
Turnips are often sowed broadcast, but this is not usually the best 
way, as cultivation must be done altogether by hoe and fingers. 
Yet, under exceptionally favorable circumstances, upon new land, 
free of weeds, with very thin but even seeding, extraordinarilv large 
crops have been thus raised at a minimum of eost. 

Crop ranges from two hundred to twelve hundred bushels per 
acre. 

The land for Mangels is to be prepared precisely as for Ruta 
Bagas, except that the ridges and rows may be twenty-four to 
thirty inches apart; I make them twenty-eight. What has been 
written above as to the cultivation of Ruta Bagas applies to this 
crop as well, except that the distance apart of the plants m the row 
should average about thirteen inches. 

Success in all root crops depends, in some measure, upon proper 
thinning. The temptation is to leave too close a stand. It seems a 
pity to sacrifice a fine, thiifty plant ! 

If I have written enthusiastically of all the roots, it is because 
I think each good in its place. The profit in raising them is not 
that one may produce them at an expense of ten cents per bushel 
and sell them in market for twenty, but that they may be disposed 
of in the home market to the animals of the farm. They will pay 
for them in bright eyes, smooth coats, healthy lungs and bowels, 
and all that these imply. 



•^..B.H. 



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